South Africa has dismissed as “opportunistic” a petition filed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) by two Ghanaians seeking an investigation into attacks on foreigners amid a rise in protests about the country’s undocumented migrants.
The petition, submitted to The Hague-based court last week, argues the violence could amount to crimes against humanity and accuses the South African government of failing to prevent and punish those responsible.
But South Africa’s foreign ministry says the petition falls short of the ICC’s legal threshold and insists its own legal system can handle such matters.
Diplomatic tensions between Ghana and South Africa over the situation have been growing.
Ghana was one of the first African countries to repatriate its citizens from South Africa following the latest wave of anti-migrant protests.
It has claimed that one of its citizens was killed in related violence. The South African authorities have denied this.
Other countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda have been also been organising flights or buses for their citizens to return home in recent weeks
Anti-migrant groups set 30 June as the deadline for undocumented migrants to leave and many foreigners have decided to flee to escape violence and intimidation.
The South African government says more than 53,000 foreign nationals have recently been deported or voluntarily repatriated.
However, an AFP news agency tally based on figures from the migrants’ home governments suggests that more than 160,000 people have left South Africa over the past two months.
Protesters have been demanding tighter border controls and mass deportations, accusing migrants of contributing to high unemployment, rising crime rates and collapse of public services.
The UN has warned against using migrants as scapegoats for South Africa’s socioeconomic challenges.
The ICC petition was filed by Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, a former Ghanaian government spokesperson on governance and security, and Emmanuel Kotin, a counter-terrorism and security analyst.
It alleges a “pattern of widespread and systematic attacks” against migrants in South Africa.
“For years, African brothers and sisters have been killed, beaten and driven from their homes in South Africa,” the two Ghanaian nationals said in a statement.
“While we commend individuals in South Africa who have condemned these acts, the pattern, scale and recurrence of the violence raise serious questions about the failure of state authorities to prevent, investigate, and punish these crimes.”
The ICC has not yet commented publicly on whether it will consider the petition.
On Sunday, leaders from the West African regional bloc Ecowas condemned the reported attacks on African migrants in South Africa, especially the “despicable treatment of West African citizens”.
They called on the South African authorities to act swiftly to end the violence and ensure the safety of foreign nationals.
Responding to criticism, South Africa said it “categorically reject[s] xenophobia, racism, homophobia, and intolerance and discrimination in all their manifestations”, describing respect for the dignity of everyone within its borders as both a constitutional and moral duty.
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