Nigeria has begun a census and selection process for its citizens wishing to voluntarily return from South Africa, amid rising tensions targeting immigrants, the spokesman for the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

This initiative comes a few days after a similar operation carried out by Ghana, which repatriated some 300 of its nationals from South Africa at the end of May.

In recent weeks, South Africa has been the scene of anti-immigrant protests, accompanied by allegations of attacks and intimidation targeting African nationals.

"The census began yesterday. The total number of people concerned will only be known at the end of this operation, scheduled for tomorrow evening. We expect to welcome more than 1,000 people," Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesman for the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told AFP on Friday.

The High Commission of Nigeria in Pretoria indicated in a briefing note dated Tuesday and addressed to the Nigerian community in South Africa that "the departure dates of nationals who have successfully passed the selection procedure will be communicated after said procedure".

"The High Commission has negotiated with the authorities of the host country exemptions for all immigration-related offences, so that persons presenting themselves for control will not be arrested or detained for the entire duration of the control, until their departure," the document states.

Episodes of tension

The country has long been a destination for African workers, despite very high local unemployment and poverty affecting the population.

It has approximately three million immigrants with legal status (5.1% of the population), according to official statistics.

Nearly two-thirds of these migrants come from southern Africa, particularly Zimbabwe and Malawi, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Some also come from West Africa, including Nigeria.

Nigeria is one of Africa's leading economies, where an elite of wealthy oil and gas players coexists with the extreme poverty of a large part of the population.

In May, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attempted to reassure other African countries, stating that "opportunists" had orchestrated these xenophobic attacks and that "there is no place in South Africa for xenophobia, ethnic mobilization, intolerance and violence".

Recent episodes of tension have revived, across the African continent, debates on xenophobia, migration and the contradiction between pan-Africanist discourse and the realities faced by many African migrants.

Ghana is increasingly advocating for a continental approach to this issue and has expressed its deep concern about xenophobic violence during debates within the African Union. Accra believes that the recurrence of these attacks undermines African integration efforts and weakens the ambitions for free movement, particularly those promoted by the African Continental Free Trade Area.

AFP