Mar 9, 2012

South Africa Unveils New Immigration Measures As Nigeria Accepts Apology


South African government on Thursday sent a letter of apology to Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, apologizing to Nigeria for barring 125 Nigerians from the country last Friday and unveiled new immigration procedures aimed at ending a diplomatic row between the continent’s two powerhouses.

The deportation of Nigerians by the South African government made Nigeria turn away 131 South Africans in retaliation, Foreign Minister Olugbenga Ashiru told reporters in Abuja.
“We apologise for this unfortunate incident and we hope this matter will not in any way affect our bilateral relations,” deputy foreign minister Ebrahim Ebrahim told reporters in Pretoria.
“We’ve put into place certain mechanisms to ensure this doesn’t happen again, and we believe that this matter is closed,” he added.
Ashiru said Nigeria had accepted the apology, saying a South African envoy was expected soon to formally apologies for the row.
“Thereafter we will move quickly to ensure that we put machinery in place so that it will be a lasting solution, because we don’t want this to happen again because of our bilateral relations,” he said.
“We felt it was un-African to have deported well over 125 Nigerians in a space of two days,” he added.
Ebrahim said South African officials had agreed to reopen an airport clinic that would allow travellers to receive yellow fever vaccines on arrival. Immigration officials will also need a foreign ministry official’s consent before turning away large groups of travellers.

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