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South African authorities faced heavy criticism on Friday after more than 150 Palestinians, including a nine-months-pregnant woman, were held on a plane for nearly 12 hours because of complications with their travel documents.
A priest, who was allowed to visit the passengers while they were stranded, reported that conditions on the ship were “extremely hot” and that children were “screaming and crying”.
As confirmed by South Africa’s border management authority, the group landed at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning via a charter flight after a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya.
Palestinian passengers did not have exit tickets Israel The statement said the officials did not disclose how long they would stay in South Africa and did not provide local addresses, leading to immigration officials denying them entry.
153 passengers, including families and children, were allowed to leave the plane on Thursday night after the intervention of South Africa’s Home Ministry and a local NGO called Gift of the Givers offering to accommodate them. The border management authority said 23 passengers had traveled to other countries, while 130 passengers remained in South Africa.
Imtiaz Suleiman, founder of Gift of the Givers, said it was the second plane carrying Palestinians to land in South Africa in the past two weeks and the passengers themselves said they did not know where they were going. He said it was believed that both the planes were carrying people from war-torn areas. Gaza,
It was not immediately clear how the charter plane was arranged, where exactly it came from and why the passengers were able to leave Israel without proper documentation, as South African authorities claimed.
The South African pastor who was given access to the plane while it was on the road told the national broadcaster SABC That many Palestinians now intend to claim asylum in South Africa.
South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause and the treatment of the passengers has sparked anger.
“It’s terrible,” Pastor Nigel Branken said in an interview. SABC He described conditions from the plane Thursday. “When I got on the plane it was very hot. There were a lot of kids sweating, screaming, crying.”
“I don’t believe this is about South Africa. South Africa should at least let these people come into the airport and let them apply for asylum. That’s their basic fundamental right guaranteed in our Constitution.”