South Africa said it has declined a request to host Afghans who have fled into Pakistan to escape the Taliban, as it is already accommodating “a substantial number” of refugees from other countries.
The In a statement, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said it had noted “overtures made to the country to consider receiving a number of Afghanistan refugees who have sought refuge in Pakistan”.
“The request is that they be accommodated in South Africa en-route to their final destinations,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The South African Government is unfortunately not in a position to accommodate such a request.”
According to the Foreign ministry, the SA government “is already home to a substantial number of refugees and is tightly occupied with addressing their needs.
“Most of them already benefit from the Social Assistance and free medical health programmes offered by our country.”
The most industrialized nation on the continent, South Africa is a major destination for economic migrants from neighboring countries and beyond.
The country also boasts one of the world’s most progressive refugee policies, which helped attract more than a million asylum-seekers between 2007 and 2015.
The US has been sourcing for countries to accommodate refugees fleeing Afghanistan following the takeover of government by Taliban militants last month. The country’s International Airport in Kabul has been a scene of congestion as foreign forces and Afghan nationals scramble to flee ending the America’s longest war in history -20years.
The Islamists’ return to power forced Western countries to evacuate their citizens and Afghans likely to face reprisals from the Taliban for having worked for the foreign forces in the country.
“In terms of international law, the well-being of the refugees is best served by remaining in the first country arrival – Pakistan – pending their final destinations,” the South African statement said.
Uganda last week accommodated 51 Afghan evacuees.
The east African country said it would provide them with temporary refuge following a request from the US government to temporarily host “at-risk” Afghan nationals and others who are in transit to other destinations.
