The South African Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it has written to the governments of Malawi, Ethiopia, and Nigeria to request reimbursement for the $18 million cost of repatriating thousands of illegal migrants.
The $18 million total bill was estimated by the South African Home Affairs department in a briefing to Parliament on Tuesday.
Home Affairs Director-General Tommy Makhode said the hefty costs – which covered transportation, temporary shelter, staffing, and other expenses – were “unforeseen and unavoidable,” thanks to the unprecedented exodus of migrants from South Africa over the past few months.
Makhode said that much of this cost has been shouldered by local governments, which are now demanding compensation from Home Affairs, but there is no money to pay them in the department’s budget.
South Africa’s request for the home countries of migrants to cover the tab was not well-received. The Nyasa Times of Malawi said the “explosive” request touched off a “diplomatic storm,” including angry counter-accusations that South Africa did not do enough to protect migrants on its soil, and mis-managed their hasty repatriation.
The Nigerian Foreign Ministry told the BBC it “never received any request” from South Africa for reimbursement, but was prepared to discuss the matter “at the highest levels.”
Malawi did not immediately respond to South Africa’s request, but on Wednesday announced the end of its own government-assisted program to bring its citizens home from South Africa.
Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) said the final group of returnees will be processed at the Mwanza Stadium reception center, which will be decommissioned afterward. The government will continue offering consular services to Malawians who want to return home, including emergency travel documents, but will no longer assist them with transportation.
DoDMA said it has repatriated over 56,000 migrants from South Africa since the program began in June, including 4,000 children, at a total cost of about $7 million.
The reason for these repatriations was a surge of anti-migrant violence among South Africans, who said the migrants were taking jobs and spreading crime in their country. Several “vigilante” groups began threatening to use violence to purge South Africa of illegals, if their government did not act.
The South African government estimated a total of some 82,000 deportations and voluntary repatriations this year, although the combined estimates from neighboring countries are more than twice that high.
In late July, Ghana asked a summit of the African Union (AU) to condemn anti-migrant violence and xenophobia in South Africa, but South Africa blocked the motion and instead called for a continental debate on migration.