Three weeks ago the Republic of Ireland’s justice minister, Helen McEntee, announced that South Africans and Batswana would be required to obtain a visa before travelling to her country. She said in recent years a significant number of international protection applications, known as refugee status applications in South Africa, have been received from nationals of Botswana and South Africa.

Now, South Africa is a country that attracts hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of foreign nationals who want to live here. That’s because it has a lot going for it: peace and stability, an open society and democracy, a measure of prosperity, the rule of law and great weather, among other things. It is not like Zimbabwe, a dictatorship whose citizens try to flee their country every day. So, why would there be a spike in refugees from South Africa to Ireland?..

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