The Immigration Department has secured 41 convictions and refused entry to 12 foreign nationals for failing to meet entry requirements into Zambia, while more than 90 illegal immigrants have been removed from the country.
Among them are 22 Congolese, eight Tanzanians, two Rwandese, one Malawian, and a Ugandan.
Giving a round-up of its recent operations, Immigration Department Public Relations Officer Namati Nshinka said 94 illegal immigrants were removed from the country between August 16 and 20, after paying their respective court fines for various immigration offenses.
And a 45-year-old Zambian man of Kanyama compound has been detained in connection with the case of aiding and abetting 27 undocumented Ethiopian nationals, who were nabbed in Palabana’s State Lodge Area on August 13 by the area’s neighborhood watch, comprising police officers and members of the community when the vehicle they were traveling in overturned due to a burst tyre.
The detainee said he had accompanied the suspected mastermind, who is at large, to hire the bus.
Namati said more than 190 suspects had been brought in from operations in different parts of the country, including Kasempa, Mwami, Petauke, Lusaka, and Mpika for several offenses and were being held at various correctional facilities.
Further, the Kasempa Immigration Office has detained ten Tanzanian illegal miners, who were among the 25 individuals – including 15 Zambians – arrested at Shindomona gold mine during an operation to curb illegal mining at the mine.
Of the ten, eight had entered the country as ordinary visitors but were found working at the mine while the other two were found without any travel documents.
The eight have been charged with engaging in business without permits and the two with unlawful stay. They are detained at the Kasempa Correctional Facility and will soon appear in court.
