South African refugees leave Lesotho

The Lesotho government announced that an undisclosed number of South African refugees have decided to leave Lesotho voluntarily. Most of the refugees belonged to various liberation movements banned from operating in South Africa by the Apartheid government. Others were in Lesotho after constant harassment and fear of arrest if they did not give information on their family members or relatives in exile. Two days after the announcement, the first batch of twenty-two African National Congress (ANC) members were airlifted to Mozambique and Tanzania. Another 200 were to follow later. This was because Lesotho was no longer safe as the country was threatened with sanctions by South Africa.