Dozens of Palestinians who arrived in South Africa on a chartered flight will not be turned back, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday.
Ramaphosa confirmed that 153 Palestinians who landed at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Thursday were being processed and would be allowed entry. “Yesterday we had a plane carrying 160 Palestinians landing at O.R. Tambo and these are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here and I got to hear about it from my Minister of Home Affairs, wanting to know what do we do now, and I said we cannot turn them back,” he told reporters during a media briefing in Soweto.
South African authorities faced criticism after holding the passengers, including a nine-month pregnant woman, on the plane for around 12 hours due to travel document complications. A pastor who met with the passengers described the conditions as extremely hot, with children crying and screaming.
The Palestinians landed on a chartered plane after a stopover in Nairobi, according to South Africa’s Border Management Authority. They lacked exit stamps from Israeli authorities, did not provide the length of their stay, and had not given local addresses, prompting initial denial of entry.
“Even though they do not have the necessary documents and papers, these are people from a strife-torn, a war-torn country, and out of compassion, out of empathy, we must receive them and be able to deal with the situation that they are facing and it does seem like they were being, you know, flushed out,” Ramaphosa said. “We will get the details later, but from a humanitarian point of view, we could not return them from, hence they have come,” he added.
The 153 passengers, including families and children, were allowed to leave the plane on Thursday night after the Ministry of Home Affairs intervened and NGO Gift of the Givers offered accommodation. The Border Management Authority said 23 passengers have since traveled to other countries, leaving 130 in South Africa.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said this was the second plane carrying Palestinians to South Africa in two weeks, and the passengers said they did not know their final destination. Both planes are believed to have carried people from Gaza.
It remains unclear how the charter plane was organised, its origin, and why passengers were able to leave Israel without proper documentation. Many of the Palestinians now intend to claim asylum in South Africa, the pastor told national broadcaster SABC.
South Africa has long supported the Palestinian cause, and the treatment of the travelers has sparked public concern and anger.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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