South Africa decries Nigerian removal of ambassadors amid xenophobic attacks

South Africa has condemned Nigeria's decision to pull senior ambassadors from the country amid a growing wave of xenophobic attacks on foreigners and foreign-owned businesses over the last month.

Anti-immigration violence, mostly centered in Durban and Johannesburg, has resulted in at least seven deaths and prompted South African authorities to arrest hundreds of people anddeploy military forces. The attackers accuse immigrants of taking jobs away from natural citizens of South Africa, which has an unemployment rate of 24 percent.

On Saturday Nigeria's foreign affairs ministry announced it would summon Acting High Commissioner Martin Cobham along with Deputy High Commissioner Uche Ajulu-Okeke "for consultation" over "ongoing xenophobia" in South Africa.

South Africa's Department of International Relations on Sunday responded with a statement saying a "government resorts to such an extraordinary diplomatic step to express outrage at actions or behavior of another government" and that Nigeria was the only country "that has taken this unfortunate and regrettable step."

"We are not sure which actions or behavior of the South African government the Nigerian government is protesting," the statement read. "If this action is based on the incidents of attacks on foreign nationals in some parts of our country, it would be curious for a sisterly country to want to exploit such a painful episode for whatever agenda."

The statement went on to say "South Africa remains committed to a strong bond of friendship and bilateral relations with Nigeria."

"It is for this reason that when 84 of our citizens perished on Nigerian soil, we did not blame the Nigerian government for the deaths and more than nine months delay in the repatriation of the bodies of our fallen compatriots, or for the fact that when these bodies eventually returned, they were in a state that they could not be touched or viewed as required by our burial practice," the statement read. "We will raise our concerns through diplomatic channels with the new administration that will assume office in Nigeria next month."

Estimates put the number of immigrants in South Africa between two million and five million, or roughly 4 percent of the population. Thousands have fled their homes for makeshift camps, while neighboring countries Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique last week announced plans to evacuate areas where its citizens are being attacked.

Critics accused Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, an ally of South African President Jacob Zuma, of exacerbating the situation by saying immigrants should "go back to their countries." Zwelithini argued his words were taken out of context.

Zuma has condemned the violence and early last week reportedly told a group of displaced foreigners that the violence would be brought to an end, but members of the crowd called out and accused him of taking his time.