Palestinian travellers welcomed into South Africa
Aid organization Gift of Givers has welcomed the Palestinian refugees who arrived in South Africa on Thursday
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A GROUP of 153 Palestinian travellers who arrived in South Africa on Thursday morning have now been received, following an initial delay at OR Tambo International Airport due to immigration concerns.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) confirmed that 130 of the passengers have been released into the care of humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers, while the remaining 23 had already been transferred to their final destinations.
The group landed on a Global Airways flight from Kenya, but their arrival was met with procedural challenges. BMA Commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato explained that the travellers did not provide details about their intended duration of stay or accommodation in South Africa.
"The travellers also did not have the customary departure stamps in their passports," Masiapato said.
"Following their failure to pass the immigration test and given that none of the travellers expressed an intention to apply for asylum, they were initially denied entry."
After correspondence between the Department of Home Affairs and Gift of the Givers, the humanitarian group was granted permission to receive the 130 travellers.
Masiapato clarified that Palestinians qualify for 90-day visa-exempt travel to South Africa and have now been processed accordingly.
“They will be required to adhere to all conditions of entry,” he said.
Gift of the Givers expressed its appreciation for the government’s intervention.
"We are grateful that the Minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation took the initiative to write to the Ministry of Home Affairs to waive this requirement, yet this could have been implemented by Home Affairs unilaterally on humanitarian grounds," the organisation said.
The group’s arrival marks another chapter in South Africa’s ongoing humanitarian support for Palestinians displaced by conflict.