The Palestinian Foreign Ministry thanked South Africa for allowing more than 150 Gaza residents into the country, after they initially faced entry issues due to missing documents and interview requirements.
South Africa on Thursday granted a 90-day visa exemption for 153 Palestinians who arrived from Kenya to seek asylum in the country, although they were initially denied entry due to not passing the required interviews and lacking customary departure stamps in their passports.
"We express our appreciation and respect for the sovereign decision to grant entry visas to a number of our people from the Gaza Strip who arrived at South Africa's airport from Israel's Ramon Airport via the Kenyan capital Nairobi, despite their arrival without any prior notification or coordination with the country's authorities," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday night.
The ministry warned that companies and entities that deceive Palestinians and incite them to relocate or migrate, or those involved in human trafficking and exploiting dire humanitarian conditions, "will bear the legal consequences of their unlawful practices and will be subject to prosecution and accountability."
Palestine had instructed its embassy in South Africa to coordinate closely with the relevant authorities "to address the situation resulting from this lapse and contain its repercussions in a way that preserves the dignity and humanity of the Palestinian citizens and helps ease their suffering after two years of the Israeli genocide."
The ministry stressed that human trafficking constitutes "a crime under international and national law that will not be tolerated."
It called on Palestinian families, especially those in the Gaza Strip, to be cautious against human trafficking networks and any unofficial and unregistered entities for their safety.
South Africa, a steadfast supporter of Palestinian rights, filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Dec. 29, 2023, accusing Israel, which has bombed Gaza since October 2023, of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 170,700 others injured in a deadly Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023.
