Overview
- Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced the withdrawal after an intelligence-led inquiry and Security Cluster consultations found deliberate, ongoing abuse of the waiver.
- Officials say intermediaries chartered entire aircraft, issued one-way tickets, restricted luggage, and left many arrivals without onward travel or accommodation.
- Investigators are examining a Dubai-based broker and a group called Al-Majd Europe for possible coordination, while officials also cited Israeli actors linked to ‘voluntary emigration’ efforts.
- About 153 Palestinians on a November 13 charter were held at OR Tambo over missing documentation before being admitted on humanitarian grounds with support from local NGOs.
- The government will process asylum claims and bona fide visa applications for Palestinian travelers going forward, and it says further flights of this nature will be blocked.