A chartered flight carrying 297 Ghanaian nationals landed in Accra, Ghana's capital, on Wednesday after the government launched a voluntary repatriation programme for citizens wishing to leave South Africa amid a surge in anti-immigrant sentiment. Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was at the airport to welcome the returnees, telling them: "Wherever Ghanaians are, we will make sure you are protected." Further departures are expected in the coming days, with around 800 Ghanaians in total having registered with the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria for evacuation.

The repatriation follows weeks of protests across South Africa, organised in part by a group called March and March, which describes itself as a citizen-led movement for immigration reform. Demonstrators have accused undocumented migrants of straining public services and contributing to crime, in a country where unemployment exceeds 30 percent and disproportionately affects the Black population. The group has set a 30 June deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave. Those departing described an atmosphere of fear. "It has never been easy for us in South Africa over the past few weeks," said one returnee, Victor Atsu Togbe. "We want to thank the Ghanaian government for taking us out of the lion's den." Another, Rudolph, who had run a salon in South Africa for a decade, said he would never return: "It's not comfortable for us to stay here anymore."

South Africa's Border Management Authority noted that approximately 90 percent of Wednesday's travellers were undocumented, with most having overstayed their visas. Ghana's High Commissioner Benjamin Quashie acknowledged this while also criticising South African authorities for backlogs in immigration permit renewals. He framed the repatriation as a constructive step, saying his government does not condone undocumented migration and has a reintegration strategy ready for returnees. South Africa has condemned violence against foreign nationals and pledged to uphold constitutional protections, even as it acknowledges the need to address illegal immigration.

Analysts caution against reading the situation purely in humanitarian terms. Professor Loren Landau of the University of the Witwatersrand's African Centre for Migration and Society described the evacuation as largely symbolic. "This is a political move to send a message to South Africa that this is politically unacceptable," he said. Some observers have also linked the resurgence of anti-migrant sentiment to local elections scheduled for November. South Africa has a painful history of xenophobic violence — at least 62 people died in attacks on foreign nationals in 2008, and at least 12 in 2019 — lending urgency to fears that the current climate could escalate despite organisers' insistence that recent protests have been peaceful.