The Department of Immigration, between February 17 and August 24 this year, removed 557 Ethiopians found to have been in the country illegally, while another 300 are in various correctional facilities awaiting removal.
The affected majority were involved in suspected smuggling of migrants and human trafficking.
Immigration Public Relations Officer Namati Nshinka said the latest 39 persons to be removed were intercepted at the Kapiji checkpoint aboard a Kasempa-bound Likili public bus.
“They enter the country as ordinary visitors but have the intention to engage in illegal gold mining activities in Kasempa. Some of them were found with gold detectors,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Nyimba magistrates court on Monday convicted and sentenced five Zambians for aiding and abetting 27 undocumented male Ethiopians. The five have been ordered to pay a fine of K80,000 each or serve six months simple imprisonment.
They had been carrying the 27 undocumented male Ethiopians aged between 12 and 27 in three Toyota Sienta vehicles when they were intercepted at Kacholola checkpoint by the police and the Zambia National Service officers.
Another 31 of the 58 undocumented Ethiopians arrested at Ndabala checkpoint in Serenje for illegal entry have been convicted. They were each fined K5,000 or four months’ simple imprisonment in default. The group was concealed in a Lusaka-bound containerized Volvo Truck and Trailer registration numbers BBC 7457 and ALC 8826T. Nine were hidden underneath the container in an improvised compartment near the truck’s chassis while 49 were discovered hidden in a partitioned room at the end of the container, which could only be accessed through the roof.
The remaining 16 were confirmed to be juveniles and will not be prosecuted. Arrangements for their removal from the country are underway.
In Chingola, the Immigration Office has secured the conviction of Kanyinda Bula Bula, a 46-year-old Congolese truck driver for aiding and abetting a prohibited immigrant contrary to section 46(4) and for possessing more than one passport without authority, contrary to section 55 of the Immigration and Deportation Act.
He was fined K6,000 for each of the two counts or in default 9 months simple imprisonment. He was arrested on August 15 at Solwezi turn-off checkpoint in Chingola while driving a truck heading to South Africa from Kasumbalesa when one of the two Congolese passengers on board presented a passport bearing another person’s name.
The other passenger, a Congolese minor, had a valid passport and valid visiting days. A further search led to the discovery of 12 Congolese passports in one of his bags. Investigations reviewed that he aided the female who had another person’s passport to enter the country illegally and that he did not have a valid letter of consent to travel with the minor.
In the same six-month period, the Department of Immigration apprehended 81 suspected illegal immigrants of different nationalities across the country and refused entry to 13 foreign nationals for failing to meet the entry requirements.
