ACCRA: The first flight of Ghanaian nationals evacuated from South Africa over anti-immigrant tensions landed in Accra Wednesday, greeted by the foreign minister and patriotic songs blasted over the airport speakers.
Some 800 Ghanaians in total are expected to leave South Africa after Accra organized repatriation flights in response to a wave of protests and violence targeting both documented and undocumented foreigners in the country.
“It has never been easy for us in South Africa over the past few weeks,” Victor Atsu Togbe, one of the roughly 300 returnees who landed Wednesday afternoon, told AFP at the airport.
“We want to thank the Ghanaian government for taking us out of the lion’s den.”
South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized economy, has long been a destination for both legal and undocumented African workers.
