Humanitarian uproar over refugees held at airport

A chartered plane carrying 153 Palestinian refugees landed at OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning, but the passengers were kept on board for 13 hours due to immigration clearance issues.

The situation sparked strong criticism from humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers, which accused the Department of Home Affairs and the Border Management Authority (BMA) of mistreating vulnerable people fleeing conflict.

Gift of the Givers founder and chairman Imtiaz Sooliman said the group was shocked by what happened at the airport. He said children were dehydrated and crying, a pregnant woman showed signs of distress, and passengers were not allowed to disembark or receive food for several hours.

“We call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate the Department of Home Affairs and the Border Management Authority for the inhumanity, the lack of empathy, the total disgrace and humiliation they caused the Palestinian people. One hundred and fifty three refugees were sitting in the tunnel of OR Tambo International Airport for 13 hours,” Sooliman said.

He said medical needs were urgent and basic support was withheld. “Children were dehydrated, their hair soaked, and within a short space of time, a pregnant woman was about to deliver a child with seizures. They were denied the delivery of food for over two hours which Gift of the Givers had paid for,” he said. He added that lower level officials were following immigration policies on exit stamps, but he believed senior officials should have intervened earlier. “We were given reassurances that the passengers could disembark, but this was overruled several times,” he said.

According to Sooliman, government officials later intervened to resolve the situation. “We are told that at some point the President did intervene. We are thankful for the people in government and DIRCO, the DG and the Minister who assisted eventually in getting these passengers off after 13 hours,” he said. However, he said the delay damaged South Africa’s international reputation ahead of the G20 summit. “This has to be investigated because South Africa’s international reputation has been severely damaged,” Sooliman said.

The refugees had arrived without exit stamps from Israel. Gift of the Givers said Israel withheld the stamps deliberately. “Israel deliberately did not stamp the passports of these poor people to exacerbate their suffering in a foreign country,” the organisation said in a separate statement. The group thanked DIRCO Deputy Director General Zane Dangor and Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola for helping ensure the refugees were allowed entry. The organisation said Home Affairs could have waived the exit stamp requirement on humanitarian grounds.

Gift of the Givers said it will work with civil society partners to provide humanitarian support for the refugees. Sooliman also thanked individuals who assisted with medical and legal support, including Nigel Branken, Zaheerah Bham Ismail and Na eem Jinnah.

Branken, a social worker who was on board the plane, said the conditions on the aircraft were severe. He said many passengers were traumatised and desperate for help. “There was a nine month pregnant woman who was literally at the point of giving birth. She was in pain. There were a lot of children screaming and sweating,” he said.

Branken said some passengers asked to be reunited with family members in other countries. “There is one woman who says she has a daughter and sister in Canada. She has lost about 17 family members. She just wants to be reconciled with her family. She asked the Border Management Authority to take her back,” he said. Branken said many refugees expressed a desire to apply for asylum in South Africa but were prevented from doing so. He said he believed this was unlawful under South African law.

The situation sparked strong reactions from South Africans on social media. Some users questioned the country’s capacity to host refugees. One user wrote, “What is the Minister of Home Affairs doing about that Palestine plane at OR Tambo? That plane must turn back where it came from. We do support them in their suffering but we never said they must increase our problems here.”

Another user voiced frustration about the government’s priorities. “Government is importing refugees to look good to the world at the expense of South Africans,” the user wrote. They cited unemployment, youth joblessness and failing infrastructure as reasons for concern.

Other users expressed fear of potential retaliation from Israel, while some said government should focus on domestic challenges before receiving refugees. A few users also accused political leaders of using the situation for public relations.

South Africa will host the G20 summit in a few days, and the incident has drawn attention to the country’s immigration systems and humanitarian policies. Government departments had not issued a full public explanation by Thursday evening.