Khaberni - The Ministry of Interior in South Africa has announced the cancellation of the visa exemption for Palestinians for entering the country for 90 days to address the voluntary displacement efforts pursued by the Israeli occupation towards Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The ministry, in a statement issued on Sunday, indicated that investigations conducted by national intelligence units have revealed deliberate and ongoing misuse of the 90-day visa exemption granted to Palestinian passport holders by Israeli entities linked to voluntary displacement attempts of Palestinians in Gaza.
It mentioned that the 90-day visa exemption granted to Palestinians has been cancelled to prevent such violations.
The statement noted that 153 Palestinians were removed from Palestine without an exit stamp on their passports, and were transferred to Johannesburg on a private flight on November 13th.
The statement stated that the Palestinians were not transferred through ordinary commercial flights, but through intermediaries, and most passengers were given one-way tickets to South Africa, were prohibited from carrying their luggage, and were only allowed to carry US dollars and basic essentials.
It confirmed that all these factors clearly demonstrate that external parties are exploiting this exemption, contrary to its purpose.
The statement clarified that the asylum requests of the 153 Palestinians who were brought to South Africa will be assessed according to procedures, and those who do not apply for asylum will continue to benefit from the current terms of the 90-day exemption.
Earlier, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that the entity behind the suspicious flights to South Africa is an association managed by a person holding Israeli and Estonian nationality, and it turned out to be a front for a consultancy firm registered in Estonia.
These flights come amid repeated statements by ministers in the Israeli government about the "idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza," a stance that South Africa sees as part of the genocide war for which Tel Aviv is accused before the International Court of Justice following the lawsuit filed at the end of 2023.
