Immigration dept nets 50 foreigners

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services has rounded up at least 50 suspected foreigners in Mzuzu in a one-off raid.

The security agents staged the sweeping exercises on Tuesday to locate illegal immigrants in the city, said national immigration spokesperson Joseph Chauwa.

The detainees included Asians, Burundians, Rwandese and the Masai from Tanzania and Kenya.

Chipiku Plus immediately shut down when the security agents arrested Asians in the supermarket.

Chauwa described the sweeping exercise as a targeted operation based on tip-offs from whistleblowers

“We wanted to check if foreigners staying in the country are doing so illegally,” he said.

Chauwa expressed concern over the influx of Masai traders running small-scale businesses without necessary documentation in the country.

“We have been monitoring the situation for some time mainly for security reasons as their numbers keep increasing. We would like to ensure that they are not a security concern to the country,” he said.

The Masai migrants, from east Africa region, mostly enter Malawi through porous borders in Karonga and Chitipa.

They are usually seen selling handmade commodities, including shoes, bags, belts and wallets.

The arrests coincide with media reports of foreigners entering the country through uncharted routes in the border districts.

Some of them end up in the country in transit to South Africa.