Authorities in South Africa have announced a cost-recovery plan targeting foreign nationals being deported for immigration violations. The move comes amid a renewed crackdown on undocumented migrants and rising anti-immigration sentiment, which has led to the repatriation of hundreds of African nationals, including Nigerians and Ghanaians.
According to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the government will seek to recover expenses incurred in detaining and deporting foreign nationals.
Authorities said more than 100,000 undocumented migrants have been deported over the past two years, placing a heavy financial burden on the state, and argued that countries whose citizens violate immigration laws should now bear the costs of repatriation.
“At least now we can see that there’s capacity for countries to extract the foreign nationals who have fallen foul of the law”, the department said, adding that the policy would be pursued through the Department of Home Affairs. The announcement follows recent evacuation exercises by several African countries in response to growing concerns over the safety of their citizens in South Africa.
Recently, the first batch of 258 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrived in Lagos as part of a government-coordinated repatriation exercise, while Ghana also repatriated about 1,000 of its citizens, with other African nations undertaking similar efforts.
The proposed cost-recovery measure is part of broader efforts by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration to tighten immigration enforcement.
Officials say immigration crackdowns will continue as the government intensifies efforts to identify and deport undocumented foreign nationals living illegally in the country.
