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Malawi announced on Friday that it has repatriated more than 38,000 citizens within a month as foreign nationals flee anti-migrant threats and violence in South Africa.
Weeks of intense protests and unrest have gripped South Africa, where demonstrators accuse immigrants of taking local jobs and resources.
The targeted violence has already claimed the lives of four individuals, including two Mozambicans, a Malawian, and an Ethiopian.
Fringe groups in South Africa have intensified their demands for undocumented migrants to leave, triggering a mass exodus since late May.
Citizens from various nations, including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, are actively fleeing the country.
To manage the crisis, Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management deployed more than 570 buses, bringing home 38,094 people between June 7 and July 8.
The long journey home turned fatal for six Malawians who died from illness during the transit.
Disaster Management Commissioner Wilson Moleni explained that the victims were already sick before departure but could not access medicines or hospital care while fleeing from place to place.
He added that crowded conditions in South African displacement camps further worsened their health before they could cross the border.
The Border Management Authority confirmed that South Africa has processed around 60,000 deportations and repatriations across its borders during this period.
While Malawians and Zimbabweans made up the bulk of those moving through the Beitbridge land border, other nationals left by air.
Roughly 1,000 Ghanaians and 500 Nigerians flew out of Johannesburg’s main airport, while hundreds of Mozambicans and Kenyans also abandoned the country.
