Uganda repatriates nationals from South Africa as xenophobic violence escalates

A chartered flight carrying 273 Ugandan nationals, including 18 children, landed at Entebbe International Airport on July 3, marking the first group returned from South Africa amid a wave of xenophobic attacks. The evacuation followed President Yoweri Museveni's directive for a voluntary repatriation programme after vigilante groups threatened the roughly 50,000 Ugandans living in South Africa, a tension that peaked when a mob beat an Ugandan migrant to death in KwaZulu‑Natal.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged security forces would work to identify the perpetrators. Ugandan officials, including Ambassador Paul Amoru and Foreign Minister Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, welcomed the returnees. Additional flights were scheduled, and a broader repatriation drive at the Beitbridge border has processed over 35,000 migrants, mainly Zimbabweans and Malawians, since early June.