A group of 153 Palestinians who arrived unannounced at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport have been permitted to enter the country on 90-day visas.
This after Gift of the Givers offered to host the travellers. So far, 130 have elected to stay in South Africa with the rest travelling on to other destinations.
Border Management Authority (BMA) boss Michael Masiapato said the group arrived at about 8.15am on Thursday on a Global Airways charter flight from Kenya.
While Palestinians are eligible for 90-day visa-exempt travel to South Africa, “during the standard interview process conducted by BMA immigration officers, the group did not indicate their duration of stay in the country or the address of their accommodation in SA.
“The travellers also did not have the customary departure stamps in their passports.
“After their failure to pass the immigration test and given that none of the travellers expressed an intention to apply for asylum, they were initially denied entry. However, the ministry of home affairs subsequently received correspondence from Gift of the Givers expressing their commitment to accommodate the travellers during their stay.
“After verification and intervention, the travellers have been admitted.”
By the time of admission on Thursday night, Masiapato said 23 of the 153 travellers had “transferred from South Africa to their ultimate destinations”.
“The remaining 130 passengers were processed into the country under the care of Gift of the Givers.”
In a statement, Gift of the Givers confirmed it would be offering assistance to the group.
The organisation thanked the director-general of the department of international relations and cooperation Zane Dangor and minister Ronald Lamola “for receiving the Palestinian refugees with open arms.”
While the BMA acted in accordance with its mandate by not allowing passengers without an exit stamp to disembark, Gift of the Givers alleged Israel deliberately did not stamp the passports to hamper their movement into a foreign country.
“We are grateful that the Minister of Dirco took the initiative to write to the Ministry of Home Affairs to waive this requirement, yet this could have been implemented by Home Affairs unilaterally on humanitarian grounds.
“We thank the South African government for coming to the assistance of the Palestinian people yet again. Gift of the Givers, with other civil society partners, will provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees.”
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.