Nigeria and Ghana have condemned the ongoing anti-immigrant violence in South Africa, calling for the issue of “Afrophobia” to be placed on the agenda of the next African Union (AU) summit.
South Africa has witnessed weeks of protests and unrest targeting undocumented immigrants, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee the country.
According to an AFP tally based on figures released by African governments repatriating their citizens, nearly 150,000 people have left South Africa in recent weeks.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Nigerian government said the foreign ministers of Nigeria and Ghana discussed the “recent Afrophobic protests and incidents targeting African nationals in South Africa.”
The ministers condemned what they described as all forms of xenophobia, Afrophobia, intolerance and violence directed at fellow Africans.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gathering in Liberia.
Nigeria has so far evacuated 1,490 of its citizens from South Africa, while Ghana has repatriated at least 926 nationals.
South Africa, Africa’s most industrialised economy, has long attracted migrants from across the continent in search of better economic opportunities.
The two ministers stressed the need for an urgent, coordinated regional and continental response to address the underlying causes of the anti-immigrant tensions.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, agreed that the issue of Afrophobia should be formally discussed at the next AU summit scheduled for early next year.
In May, Ghana called on the AU to hold a debate on what it described as xenophobic attacks in South Africa, although it remains unclear whether the proposal was taken up.
Earlier this month, Ghana also announced the postponement of a planned visit to Accra by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
