Nigeria moves to repatriate 1,000 citizens from South Africa

Article excerpt

Nigeria is preparing to repatriate approximately 1,000 of its citizens stranded in South Africa following a wave of violent anti-migrant attacks. The governments of Nigeria and Ghana have coordinated a response, offering to fly their nationals home as xenophobic tensions escalate in South Africa's major cities. The repatriation effort marks an escalation in diplomatic concern over the safety of West African migrants, who have faced looting, arson, and physical assaults. South Africa has struggled for years with periodic eruptions of xenophobic violence targeting foreign nationals, particularly those from neighboring African countries seeking economic opportunity.