Immigration nets 30 illegal immigrants
The Department of Immigration has, in a four-day sweeping operation, netted 30 foreign nationals in Blantyre for staying in the country illegally, Nation on Sunday has learnt.
In an interview on Friday, the department’s deputy national spokesperson Wellington Chiponde confirmed the arrest of the immigrants, whom he said were from Ghana, Burundi, Pakistan, Rwanda, India, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
He said the department will continue exploring new mechanisms of detecting and apprehending illegal immigrants.
“We have arrested 30 illegal immigrants this week. This is in the quest of enhancing security of our country and safeguarding employment for Malawians. Let me also indicate that Malawi will not be a safe haven for all foreign nationals who choose not to comply with the laws of our country in as far as immigration issues are concerned,” he said.
According to Chiponde, most of the illegal immigrants came into the country as tourists and started working in different companies without valid work permits, which is contrary to Section 21 (1) of the Immigration Act.
He said the department has since deported some of them, others have been sent to a refugee camp while another group is in custody waiting to appear in court soon.
Chiponde appealed to the public to inform authorities about whereabouts of illegal immigrants.
Job well done chiponde and immigration service…this is what we want we have somany people from Pakistan bangladesh of which are illegal and on top of that they treat poor Malawians badly… I believe if you put address or number to report illegal immigrants people in this country will help.. this happens in Uk or Europe in general… chiponde make immigration tough.. for security purposes