By Makiza Micheline Latifa | May 28, 2026
Three hundred Ghanaians have touched down in Accra, ending weeks of fear and uncertainty following a renewed wave of xenophobic attacks targeting foreign nationals in South Africa, in what marks one of the most significant consular operations Ghana has mounted in recent memory.
The evacuees arrived at the Accra International Airport on Wednesday afternoon aboard a chartered Ethiopian Airlines flight, touching down at around 3:00 p.m. to emotional scenes as families and government officials gathered to receive them. Many were seen waving Ghanaian flags and breaking into song as they stepped onto home soil, a moment that captured both the relief of return and the weight of what they had endured.
A Hero’s Welcome
Leading the government delegation at the airport was Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister James Gyakye-Quayson, and the Chief Executive of the National Disaster Management Organisation, Joseph Bikanyi Kuyon. The composition of the delegation was itself a statement, that the return of these citizens was not a routine consular matter, but a national priority backed by the full weight of the Presidency.
In an emotional address at the airport, Minister Ablakwa reaffirmed the government’s unwavering commitment to protecting the dignity and welfare of Ghanaian nationals wherever they are in the world. “Today we send a clear message, Ghanaians have a caring government, Ghanaians are valued, Ghanaians are loved, Ghanaians are cherished, if you mess with Ghanaians anywhere in the world you are making a mess of yourself” he said.
He also expressed gratitude to South African authorities for facilitating the release and return of twenty-six Ghanaians who had been detained for visa and permit violations, confirming that no Ghanaian now remains in any South African prison. “We thank President Ramaphosa for accepting our plea to release them, so now there is no Ghanaian in South Africa prison over visa violations, your government will continue to care for you” he added.
Chief of Staff Julius Debrah used the occasion to rally the spirits of the returning evacuees, urging them to look ahead with optimism and assuring them of the government’s full support in rebuilding their lives back home.
A representative of the evacuees also expressed heartfelt gratitude to the government, describing the evacuation as a lifeline and a powerful demonstration that Ghana never abandons its citizens in their hour of need.
The Road to Evacuation
The homecoming did not happen overnight. The latest wave of tensions in South Africa was triggered by renewed anti-immigration protests, fuelled by growing frustration in some communities over unemployment, crime and competition for jobs and business opportunities. Foreign nationals increasingly became the target of that frustration. Concerns reached a boiling point in April when videos emerged on social media showing Ghanaians and other African nationals being harassed, confronted over their citizenship status, and in some cases ordered to leave the country.
Ghana’s response was swift and decisive. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Thando Dalamba, to formally protest the attacks. Minister Ablakwa, in delivering Ghana’s protest, invoked the deep historical ties between the two nations, recalling Ghana’s active role in the anti-apartheid struggle, the foundational contributions of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and the sacrifices the continent made in pursuit of South Africa’s liberation. The message carried unmistakable moral weight: African solidarity cannot be a one-way street.
President John Dramani Mahama subsequently granted approval for an emergency evacuation, and the Ghanaian High Commission in Pretoria began processing over eight hundred Ghanaians who had registered to return home. The operation, initially scheduled to commence on May 21, was delayed after authorities recorded a far higher number of registrations than anticipated, a logistical challenge that required multi-institutional coordination between Ghanaian and South African authorities before the first flight could depart.
Taking It to the Continent
Ghana did not limit its response to bilateral diplomacy. Minister Ablakwa formally wrote to the African Union Commission requesting that the issue of xenophobic attacks against African nationals in South Africa be placed on the agenda of the Eighth AU Mid-Year Coordination Meeting, scheduled for June in Cairo, Egypt. The letter framed the recurring attacks not as an isolated bilateral dispute, but as a matter of urgent continental concern, one that undermines the foundational principles of African solidarity, brotherhood, and unity.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has also weighed in, expressing grave concern over the pattern of attacks and intimidation against African nationals living in South Africa. Ghana’s push for AU-level action reflects a growing continental consensus that the protection of African migrants within Africa itself can no longer be left to individual governments acting alone.
South Africa’s own President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly condemned xenophobia and called on his compatriots not to allow frustrations over migration to fuel hatred, acknowledging, on Freedom Day, the solidarity Africa showed South Africa during its own darkest chapter. But for many of the men and women who boarded that flight home to Accra on Wednesday, the words of leaders are less meaningful than the lived reality of fear and displacement they endured.
Building Lives Again
For those who have made it home, the government has put a comprehensive support package in place. Each evacuee is entitled to a welcome home financial package, transportation assistance to their destinations across Ghana, a reintegration allowance, free psychological support, and entry into a national database for jobs and startup opportunities. Officials from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, health professionals and other state agencies are coordinating the reception and reintegration process, ensuring the return is not just physical, but sustainable.
Government officials have indicated that additional evacuations may follow, with over eight hundred Ghanaians still in the pipeline for repatriation as authorities continue to monitor the situation and engage with Ghanaian communities remaining in South Africa.
A Continent That Must Do Better
The scenes at Accra’s airport on Wednesday were joyful, flags, songs, tears, and embraces. But beneath the celebration lies a harder truth. This is not the first time African migrants have been forced to flee violence within Africa. It will not be the last, unless the continent confronts the structural conditions, inequality, unemployment, and the failures of regional integration, that allow xenophobia to take root and flourish.
Ghana’s response to this crisis has been anchored in Pan-African values: the belief that the dignity of one African is the dignity of all, and that the liberation struggle that freed South Africa from apartheid was a collective African sacrifice that demands collective African accountability. Three hundred Ghanaians are back home. But the deeper question of how Africa truly protects its own across borders remains one the continent must answer together.