<\/p>\n
The Forum said countries of origin should work directly with the SA government to document and repatriate people who want to return home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Civic Engagement Forum of Zimbabwe General Sithole said diplomatic relations should not prevent governments from accepting responsibility for nationals stranded in SA. \u201cThe governments of all the affected countries must comply, because we cannot always speak of diplomatic relations and protecting diplomatic relations at the expense of another government,\u201d Sithole said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government of SA is facing difficulties, and this is coming from communities which are rising up. Therefore, we need to see governments and all relevant parties coming to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sithole said SA should enforce immigration legislation while distinguishing between undocumented foreign nationals and refugees, asylum seekers and other documented migrants entitled to protection. \u201cNothing is going to move forward if other people are just going to overlook the problem,\u201d Sithole said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The SA government has meanwhile said on Friday that it facilitated the departure of 194 Zimbabwean nationals who had gathered at the Zimbabwean Consulate in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The group, comprising 35 men, 58 women and 101 minors, departed for Zimbabwe on Friday after authorities completed the necessary processing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A further 56 Nigerian nationals, including 18 men, 17 women and 21 minors, were processed with assistance from the Nigerian Embassy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment continues to work with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to facilitate an orderly repatriation and deportation, and a safe and humane process in accordance with applicable laws and established procedures,\u201d SA Deputy Government Spokesperson William Baloyi said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
More than 300 Zimbabwean nationals had reportedly been staying at the former consulate premises in Bruma while awaiting assistance to return home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Civil society organisations raised concerns about inadequate water, sanitation and shelter, particularly for children and other vulnerable people.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe previously deployed buses to repatriate nationals from cities across SA, with authorities saying the programme was funded by the Zimbabwean government.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sithole said cooperation between governments remained necessary to protect vulnerable migrants, enforce immigration legislation and ensure voluntary returns were managed safely and lawfully.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–SABC\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43180,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-45320","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Governments must help fund and coordinate the return of nationals affected by the South African (SA) migration crisis, the Civic Engagement Forum of Zimbabwe says.","published_date":"","news_description":"Governments must help fund and coordinate the return of nationals affected by the South African (SA) migration crisis, the Civic Engagement Forum of Zimbabwe says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45321,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45320\/revisions\/45321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=45320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}