South Africa deports 3067 Zimbabweans

South Africa deports 3067 Zimbabweans

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By Staff Reporter

THE Immigration Department of Zimbabwe has announced that a total of 3,067 Zimbabweans deemed illegal immigrants were deported from South Africa during the festive season.

Acting chief immigration officer of the department Desiderius Karaga said: "Over 3,000 Zimbabweans, many of whom had slipped into South Africa without any travel documentation or over stayed, were deported between 23rd and 28th December last year. This confirms the need for Zimbabwe and South Africa to work together in ensuring immigration laws are upheld."

He said 40 illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe were "brought back home for breaching some sections of the immigration laws in South Africa, which include entering a foreign country without proper documentation. These include permits to either work or to visit that country for a stipulated time frame."

He said cases of deportations were not only affecting Zimbabweans, but was a major challenge in the whole of the Southern African Development Community region.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, is also in the process of finalizing the deportation of more than 20 illegal immigrants from Rwanda, Pakistan, Mozambique, Liberia and Nigeria. Nationals from these countries, according to the Department of Immigration, have always managed to sneak into the country without proper travel documents.

"Zimbabwe has a significant number of illegal immigrants staying in hiding for fear of being deported. Some come under the guise of seeking refugee status which later turn out to be fake," he said.

Over a month ago, close to 3,000 nationals from Rwanda and Burundi sought refugee status in Zimbabwe and were permitted to stay while their documents were being processed - Xinhua
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