More than 150 Palestinian passengers were finally allowed to disembark from a plane in South Africa late Thursday night after being held on board for nearly 12 hours by the country’s border police. The chartered flight, operated by South Africa’s Global Airways, landed at OR Tambo International Airport shortly after 8 a.m. local time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday, following a stop in Nairobi. However, border police initially refused to let the 153 passengers off the aircraft due to the absence of Israeli departure stamps in their passports.
The release of the passengers came after the South African Department of Home Affairs received a written guarantee from the humanitarian organization Gift of the Givers, which offered to provide accommodation and necessary support.
“Given that Palestinians are eligible for 90-day visa-exempt travel to South Africa, they have been processed as per normal and will be required to adhere to all conditions of entry,” the Border Management Authority (BMA) stated.
According to the BMA, the passengers failed to meet standard immigration requirements. They lacked departure stamps, had not specified their intended duration of stay, and did not provide an address for accommodation. As none of the passengers applied for asylum, their initial entry was denied.
The incident sparked public outcry in South Africa, a country known for its support for Palestinian rights and its efforts to bring a genocide case against Israel to the International Criminal Court. President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the media on Friday, expressing the need to investigate how the group ended up on the flight to South Africa. “We need to look at their origins, where it started, and why they were brought here… because they didn’t have any documentation,” he remarked. He added that the South African government admitted the passengers “out of compassion” but implied that they appeared to be “flushed out” of Gaza.
Of the group, 130 Palestinians entered South Africa while 23 continued their journeys to other destinations.
The Palestinian Embassy in Pretoria released a statement on Thursday, indicating that the travel arrangements were organized by an unregistered group that misled families, took their money, and facilitated travel in a careless manner. The embassy urged people in Gaza to exercise caution when dealing with such unverified organizations or intermediaries.
This incident is still unfolding, and authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the travel arrangements.
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