The African Meridian Newsroom · Nairobi, Kenya · 1 July 2026
As anti-migrant unrest spreads across South African cities, African governments are moving quickly to bring their citizens home, launching a wave of evacuation flights that has turned a domestic immigration dispute into a continent-wide repatriation effort.
Kenya has evacuated 86 citizens from South Africa so far, with 26 having already returned and more than 60 others in the process of being brought home, after Nairobi activated a government evacuation team in response to the escalating violence. The operation reflects a broader pattern taking shape across the continent: rather than waiting for the crisis to subside, several governments have chosen to proactively extract nationals who no longer feel safe remaining in the country.
Nigeria’s response has been the most extensive to date. The federal government approved free, fully funded repatriation flights operated by Air Peace, with an early batch of 258 Nigerians arriving home and additional flights following as registrations grew; more than 1,000 Nigerians have now registered for voluntary return, and fresh batches of evacuees continue to land in Lagos. Abuja has also issued its strongest warnings yet over the treatment of its citizens, with officials signalling the dispute could escalate to the African Union.
Uganda is the latest country to launch a formal evacuation, with the government confirming that 746 Ugandan nationals have voluntarily registered to return home. Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Haruna Kasolo said President Yoweri Museveni had directed government agencies to begin evacuation arrangements, coordinated across the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Prime Minister and Uganda’s High Commission in South Africa, with the plan involving registration, movement to safe assembly centres, and emergency travel documents where necessary. Uganda Airlines is operating special charter flights for the evacuation, funded by the Ugandan government. The announcement came alongside grim news: officials confirmed one Ugandan national was killed in an attack in KwaZulu-Natal, with the government now working to repatriate the body.
Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Liberia have also organised or announced evacuation and repatriation efforts of their own, according to regional reporting — underscoring how broadly the crisis has been felt beyond South Africa’s borders, and how directly it is now testing the diplomatic and logistical capacity of governments across the continent.