Nigerians are being attacked in South Africa again. And we’re bringing them home. Again.

Here we go again. Nigerian citizens are being attacked in South Africa. Anti-immigrant groups have set June 30 as a deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave. Violence has erupted. Properties have been destroyed. Lives have been threatened. And the Nigerian government is doing what it always does. Evacuating citizens. Bringing them home. Holding press conferences. And then waiting for the next cycle of violence to begin again.

Here is what most people get wrong about the xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The problem is not that South Africans are uniquely hostile to Nigerians. The truth is that Nigerians are treated poorly across the world because Nigeria has failed to build a reputation that commands respect. And here is why that matters right now: because evacuation flights are not a foreign policy. They are a bandage on a wound that never heals.

The Nigerian government has finalized arrangements to evacuate the first batch of citizens from South Africa. The evacuation is fully funded by the government. Returnees will receive support upon arrival. That is good. That is necessary. That is also insufficient. Ghana evacuated 300 of its citizens last month. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the violence, saying it does not reflect government policy. But policy does not matter when citizens are being attacked in the streets.

Evacuation is not a solution. It is an admission of failure.

The root causes of xenophobia in South Africa are well known. High domestic unemployment. Rising crime rates. Pressure on public infrastructure. South Africans are angry, and foreigners have become scapegoats. That does not excuse the violence. But it explains it. And until Nigeria addresses the underlying conditions that send its citizens abroad in search of opportunity, the cycle will continue.

Let me give the South African government its due. President Ramaphosa has condemned the attacks. He has called for the rule of law. He has acknowledged that targeting foreigners is not a solution to South Africa’s problems. Some South Africans have also spoken out against the violence. Not everyone in the country is xenophobic.

But here is where that defense fails. Condemnation is not protection. Press releases do not stop mobs. The South African government has been dealing with xenophobic violence for years. The pattern is always the same. Attacks happen. Leaders condemn. Life goes back to “normal.” Then the next wave of attacks happens. If the government cannot protect foreign nationals, it should say so. And other countries should adjust their travel advisories accordingly.

A country that cannot protect visitors is not safe. A country that tolerates attacks on visitors is complicit.

I have a friend who lived in Johannesburg for five years. He returned to Nigeria last year after the third time his shop was looted. He lost everything. His savings. His inventory. His dreams of building a life abroad. He is now back in Lagos, starting over from scratch. He is angry at the South Africans who attacked him. But he is also angry at Nigeria. Why, he asks, is his country so weak that its citizens are treated like prey everywhere they go?

He is not wrong. Nigerian passports are among the least respected in the world. Visa applications are rejected at higher rates than almost any other nationality. Nigerian travelers are profiled, questioned, and harassed at airports across the globe. The world does not respect Nigeria. And until Nigeria gives the world a reason to respect it, Nigerian citizens will continue to suffer.

The government must do more than evacuation flights. It must engage diplomatically with South Africa. It must demand protections for Nigerian citizens. It must consider economic consequences for countries that fail to protect Nigerians. But more than that, Nigeria must build a country worth staying in. The best foreign policy is a country that citizens do not want to leave.

Young Nigerians should not have to choose between staying home with no opportunities or going abroad to face xenophobia. That is not a choice. That is a trap.

Here is where we land. Nigerians are being attacked in South Africa again. And we are bringing them home again. The cycle will continue until Nigeria gives its citizens a reason to stay. Until then, we will keep watching evacuation flights land. And we will keep asking ourselves why we are not angry enough to demand real change.