Overview
- Nigeria has registered more than 1,000 nationals for a voluntary return program and has started joint screening with South African immigration officials to determine who can be repatriated.
- Nigeria’s mission in Pretoria says it negotiated waivers to allow people with immigration-related offences, such as overstays, to depart on repatriation flights instead of facing detention.
- The agreement bars individuals who are facing criminal charges from joining the repatriation flights, and screening will identify those ineligible.
- The repatriation follows a fresh wave of anti-migrant protests and vigilante attacks in South Africa that displaced hundreds and prompted Ghana, Mozambique and others to arrange evacuations or repatriations.
- Underlying pressures such as high unemployment, permit and asylum backlogs, and election‑period mobilization are heightening the risk of further violence and complicating verification, diplomatic and humanitarian responses.