Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber confirmed on Friday that none of the 153 travellers from Palestine applied from asylum.

On Thursday, a chartered flight arrived in Johannesburg with 153 Palestinian travellers with no departure stamps in some of their passports, no return tickets for some or addresses for their accommodation in South Africa.

Holders of ordinary Palestinian passports have 90 days of visa-exempt access to South Africa, subject to security and verification procedures.

But because of the discrepancies in this case, the Border Management Authority (BMA) could not allow the Palestinian passengers entry right away, as further verifications had to be undertaken.

Schreiber noted that government interacted with the Palestinian embassy and other role-players, in which it was established that the absence of stamps, return tickets and accommodation addresses did not indicate that the travellers wished to apply for asylum.

“While these processes were unfolding, vulnerable members of the travelling company were disembarked onto airconditioned busses,” he explained.

Once it was confirmed that the travellers would be provided with accommodation and care during their visit, Schreiber presented the new fact set to the BMA Commissioner for consideration, including on humanitarian grounds.

“Once satisfied that the absence of certain elements from their itinerary would not leave them destitute in South Africa in the absence of any asylum claims, the travellers were granted entry into South Africa on the standard 90-day visa exemption, subject to compliance with the standard conditions,” he explained.

He noted that by the time that entry was granted, 23 members of the group had already taken flights to other destinations. 

Meanwhile the department said it noted social media reports by the Palestinian embassy, indicating that “the travel of these 153 Palestinians was arranged by an unregistered and misleading organization that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner”.

Schreiber said this entity later attempted to disown any responsibility once complications arose.

He highlighted that his department would continue to work with the Palestinian embassy and the South African security cluster to probe these claims.