South Africa pushes for Africa migration talks after violent internal protests and Ceuta crisis

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African government is pushing for Africa-wide talks while seeking to manage the fallout over anti-immigration protests that have forced many migrants to leave the country and caused diplomatic tensions with some its African counterparts.

The country has faced a backlash over protests calling for the deportation of migrants who are in the country illegally and reported violent attacks against migrants. But South African officials believe wider migration talks among all African nations could address the broader causes of the migration crisis throughout the continent as well as South Africa.

The African Union, which includes 55 member nations, rejected a proposal last week by Ghana to add South Africa’s migration tensions to the agenda of the bloc’s next coordination meeting in October. South Africa opposed the idea, protesting it would be singled out without addressing the broader crisis.

South Africa's divisive migration situation is expected to be discussed by national leaders later this month at a Southern African Development Community summit in South Africa, which is pushing for a broader discussion by all members of the African Union.

The countries expected at the talks in the South African city of Durban include Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which have been repatriating some of their nationals from South Africa.

South Africa International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said Wednesday that the talks would address factors causing irregular migration in various areas including North Africa.

Lamola said his government is seeking an Africa-wide discussion on the migration crisis, which has included people illegally entering South Africa and a chaotic crossing of thousands of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta on July 31 that left more than 80 people dead.

South African protest groups call for deportations

South Africa wants to approach the migration issue with a focus on the “push-pull factors” resulting in people seeking to migrate from their countries, said Lamola, who met in the past two weeks with other national officials including Ghana President John Dramani Mahama and a representative of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.

Anti-illegal immigration groups including the March and March movement have called for the deportation of migrants who are in South Africa illegally. The groups have vowed to continue protesting every Thursday to pressure the government to accelerate deportation, enforce immigration laws and tighten security at the country's borders.

Some migrants claimed to have been violently attacked by protesters around the country.

At least 68,000 people were repatriated from South Africa between June and July, according to the government, including people who were deported for not having required documents and being in the country illegally.

While the exact breakdown of the repatriated nationals and those deported remains unclear, most were from Malawi, followed by Zimbabwe and Mozambique, according to the South African government.

The country's Border Management Agency also has reduced the capacity of its temporary repatriation facility in the town of Musina, near the Beitbridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe, from 20,000 to 1,500 people.