South Africa Rejecting British Immigrants?

In what looks like an interesting plot twist in a low budget Hollywood flick, South Africa has set up rather draconian laws to deny entry to British travelers looking to spend the holidays in South Africa. Travelers under the age of 18 are required to present full birth certificates at boarding or won't be allowed to get on the flight.

In a report by The Independent, about 10 families get rejected per day across the various airlines at the Heathrow International airport as a result of the new rules.

"Responsibility rests with passengers to ensure they have the necessary documents to enter a country. Airlines face fines from the South African authorities if they carry passengers under 18 who do not have a birth certificate and are therefore inadmissible" the report says.

Apparently, the rules became effective in June this year as part of “New immigration laws to protect citizens and to improve lives” with the intent to mitigate child trafficking. But the outcome of such a rule is that hundreds of families with holiday plans in South Africa are getting rejected resulting in losses amounting to thousands of pounds. Not to mention the frustrations and angst on display.

However, In what is perhaps the weirder angle to this story, passengers aren't usually made aware of this rule until they arrive for boarding and it's too late.

The clip below show travelers at Heathrow in protests following the enforcement of the rule.