Africa-Press – Zambia. The Department of Immigration says it apprehended a total of 154 suspected immigrants during its clean-up operation in Lusaka city. The Department’s Public Relations Office Namati Nshinka discloses that Zambia Police Service provided re-enforcement during the operation which began in the early hours of Friday, 24th September, 2021.
“ The operation covered the Great-North Road, Great East Road, Chongwe, Kafue Road, Mumbwa road, Lusaka’s Central Business District (CBD ), Kamwala, Chalala, Nyumba Yanga, Kabulonga, Bauleni, and Ibex Hill areas, “ he said.
ZANIS reports that Mr. Nshinka disclosed in a statement that most of the suspects nabbed during the operation did not have any documentation legalizing their stay in Zambia, while some were in abrogation of the terms and conditions of their immigration permits.
After the initial screening exercise 26 refugees were released unconditionally, while 28 were mandated to report to Immigration Headquarters for further investigations and formalities, while 100 were detained pending prosecution.
of the 100 illegal immigrants detained, 42 were Burundians, 22 were Tanzanians, 20 were Congolese, six Rwandese, four Zimbabweans, and two Indians. Others were one Angolan, one Chinese, one Egyptian and a Malawian nationals, respectively.
Mr Nshinka described the outcome of the operation as impressive as it highlights the success of team work among law enforcement agencies. He has also commended the general public for its cooperation during the operation and has urged the public to continue being alert were illegalities are concerned.
“We will continue to work with other law enforcement partners to effectively contribute towards the maintenance of internal security.
“ We also wish to commend members of the public for their cooperation during the operation and urge them to continue being our eyes and ears where illegalities are concerned.
“ This is particularly important because we cannot be at each and every place and thus we rely on them to report suspected illegal immigrants” he said.
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