The Republic of Ireland deported 42 South African nationals in what authorities described as the most recent phase of its immigration enforcement program.
According to a report by DW Africa, the deportees arrived in Johannesburg on Friday after leaving Dublin on a specially chartered aeroplane.
Nine men, eighteen women, and fifteen children made up the returned group; they were all travelling as families.
Two of the group’s members had previously been found guilty of crimes in Ireland, according to Irish officials.
According to Ireland’s Department of Justice, the deportation operation was the country’s fourth chartered removal flight this year.
The most recent activity, according to officials, was a part of continuous efforts to uphold immigration laws and expel people who had no right to stay in the nation.
The department also disclosed that 130 individuals had previously been deported from Ireland in prior operations this year, many of them due to criminal convictions.
Authorities insisted that the removals were carried out in compliance with current legal procedures, even though information regarding the impacted South Africans’ immigration status was not immediately made public.
Widespread social media reactions followed the development, with many users bringing up long-running discussions about migration, xenophobia, and how foreigners are treated in other nations.
While some observers questioned beliefs about migration and criminality among African populations abroad, others brought out previous instances of xenophobic violence in South Africa.
The expulsion occurs at a time when a number of European nations are tightening their immigration enforcement procedures in response to mounting public and political criticism.
Source: newsthemegh.com