•KAMPYONGO

By MARTIN NYIRENDA –
THE influx of illegal immigrants terrorises the security of any country.
This is why Zambia now rests on the verge of becoming infested with
the infiltration of illegal immigrants who use the country for an
array of criminal activities.
Every week, newspapers are awash with screaming headlines of
illegal immigrants arrested here and there.
Today, Zambia is not only a transit point to its neighbouring
countries but was also a haven for some illegal immigrants who were
now
architects of organised crime.
As such, illegal entry of foreigners in the country remains a mystery
because some of them were engaged in exchange of counterfeit foreign
currencies, smuggling of essential commodities and stolen vehicles,
rape and armed robbery, only God knows the list of their criminal
agenda.
There are also vendors in illegal immigrants from across Africa,
including those selling shoes and bracelets!
Recently, the Immigration Department in Chirundu District arrested 23
Zimbabwean women suspected to be commercial sex workers
for unlawful entry and stay during a clean-up operation.
They were nabbed in various shanty townships including Gabon, Apollo,
and Chibakete where they had been renting small shacks.
Others were found at Oasis and Auntie Lontia truck bays within
Chirundu during the operation that also took in two Congolese, one
Somali and two Zimbabweans.
It is believed that at least three million of the estimated five
million illegal immigrants that South Africa harbours are of
Zimbabwean origin.
Well, back home, some illegal immigrants have dubiously acquired
citizenship and were operating businesses whose authenticity is hard to establish.
Worse still, some illegal immigrants have
doubtfully acquired National Registration Cards (NRCs) and what does
the demand of Zambia’s NRCs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
decode?
Thus, it does not amuse many that at least 17 from the DRC were
recently arrested at Sakania border for entering Zambia without proper
documentation.

Immigration Department public relations officer Namati Nshinka says
the culprits who entered Zambia through an ungazzetted path at
Mpima near Sakania were seized in a joint operation with police for
unlawful entry.
The Congolese, who have since been deported to their country, used
Mpima as their transit point. Mpima, which is about 20 kilometres
from Ndola, is a settlement off Mufulira Road and an infamous route
for smugglers who are mostly illegal immigrants.

A few metres from the Mufulira road in Mpima, Congolese nationals,
huddled with their bicycles, perch themselves near the foot paths
leading to DRC as they wait for their clients who arrive in mini buses
with assorted goods bought from Ndola’s wholesale outlets and other
shop.
There is a security check point shortly after Mitengo cemetery along
Mufulira road situated less than eight kilometres from Ndola and
smugglers evade it by using a gravel road stretching along the
plantation from Chifubu/Pamodzi townships which leads them some few
metres away from the face of Sakania border post, passing through
Kaniki farm bloc where they join the main road evading the road
block and sauntering straight to Mpima.
When they reach Mpima, a settlement charcaterised by small scale
farming activities, they shoot straight through ungazzetted paths to
enter DRC which takes them less an hour transporting goods mostly on bicycles.
Kaniki is also another transit point so is 21 Miles settlement still
along the same infamous Mufulira road where illegal immigrants smuggle
goods to DRC.
It is not surprising at all that Mufulira road is infamous for being a
transit den for illegal immigrants because of its associated long
history to the scourge.
Continued influx of Congolese nationals into Zambian territory at the
Kasumbalesa border area on the Copperbelt still remain a security
concern and the problem appears organised crime than anything else.
Police at Nakonde border arrested a senior officer for allegedly
aiding prohibited immigrants to enter Zambia.
Somali youths believed
to be victims of an international syndicate involved in human
trafficking were intercepted in 2009.
Last month, 31 Ethiopians were arrested in Nakonde for illegal entry
into the country.
The illegal immigrants aged between 25 and 40 were
arrested by a combined team of Immigration and Police Officers at
Peulu area on the Great East Road.
But what boggles the notice is that as much as Government deports
illegal immigrants, it only takes few days sometimes if not few hours
before they return back to their second home.

No doubt, the slackness of the law on illegal entry raises the red flag.
The penalty against offenders should be stiff enough to deter the
culprits from committing the same offence. Kabwe principal resident
magistrate John Mbuzi recently fined 54 Ethiopians K100 each or 20
days simple imprisonment in default after they pleaded guilty.
Critics believe the fine revised considering that the story of illegal
immigrants has long assumed a global dimension.
As many as 2,500 illegal immigrants a week are flooding into the
continent from North Africa through Italy, the European Union’s border
protection
agency revealed.
The official figures, which came from Warsaw based Frontex in Athens,
show that for the first three months of last year, 33,000 people
entered Europe illegally with 22,600 coming through Italy.

Botswana deports hundreds of Zimbabwean illegal immigrants every month
who return back to the ‘diamond country’ every other day without
documentation in search of greener pastures.
To curtail the problem, Botswana has since tightened security patrols
in its neighborhoods and on streets through visibility of both police
and other security agents.
The immigration and labour department there have a highly computerised
system to process residence and work permits respectively which have
cut down on underhand issuance of documents to stay and work in that country.
Zambia can learn the processes applied to address illegal immigration
from that country.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo said the Government would continue to seal all security
loopholes to ensure illegal immigration is curbed.
More security officers are being deployed on some border areas.
On the whole, Mr Kampyongo urges residents to jack up and closely work
with relevant authorities in addressing the teething problem.
It is only time that will tell if Government’s initiatives to address
the problem were bearing the desired results