JOHANNESBURG - South Africa has withdrawn the 90-day visa exemption for Palestinian passport holders.
The move comes after two recent chartered flights brought a group of 153 refugees into the country.
Authorities say the arrivals lacked proper documents, exit stamps, and confirmed travel plans.
An analyst now warns that the chartered flights may form part of a broader effort to relocate Palestinians.
Aimée-Noël Mbiyozo, a senior research consultant on migration at the Institute for Security Studies, says the decision to withdraw the exemption is disappointing.
“South Africa definitely didn’t start the problem, but revoking the 90-day exemption shows it is taking a security-first position,” she said.
She added that, from a humanitarian law perspective, there is concern that if Israel is forcibly sending people to destinations unknown to them, it could amount to ethnic cleansing.
“South Africa was thrust into a position where it had to balance these issues. We are not going to see Gaza ethnically cleansed one charter flight at a time to South Africa,” she said, adding that a lot of people will be watching how the country responds.
"It is a test of law and collective response," she said.