3-10-2022 – The Kapiri Mposhi Immigration Office has apprehended Thirty-Nine (39) persons for illegal entry. They were all apprehended at Mutonyo Village in the Mpula area, 33 Kilometres from Kapiri Mposhi Town, following a tip-off from members of the public. A combined team of Immigration and Police Officers rushed to the scene on 1st October, 2022 where they managed to apprehend fifteen (15). Meanwhile, the rest of the suspects, whose exact number is unknown, managed to escape.
The Officers continued their search and managed to apprehend Twenty-Three (23) more on Sunday, 2nd October 2022, and another in the early hours of Monday, 3rd October 2022, bringing the total number to Thirty-Nine (39). Those apprehended were Thirty-Four (34) Ethiopians and Five (5) Somalis. It remains unclear whether others remain at large. Therefore, Immigration Officers in the areas and along that route are on high alert. Preliminary investigations suggest that they were either abandoned by a smuggling or trafficking brokers or were in the process of being transferred to another broker for their onward transportation to South Africa. They are all detained at Kapiri Mposhi Police Station pending prosecution. The arrest of the Ethiopians and Somalis in Kapiri Mposhi brings the number of persons apprehended for various Immigration Offences countrywide between 23rd September and 2nd October 2022 to One Hundred and Ninety-One (191).
Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration in Lusaka, on 28th September 2022, removed One-Hundred and Twenty-One (121) illegal immigrants from the country in a mass removal exercise. Those removed were Fifty-Eight (58) Tanzanians, Fifty-Two (52) Burundians, Seven (7) Ugandans, and Four (4) Rwandese. They were all removed after paying court fines for various immigration offences. This brings the number of removals between 23rd September 2022 and 2nd October 2022 to Two-Hundred and Eighty-Two (283), including the Forty-One (41) Ethiopians removed on 30th September 2022 in an ongoing exercise aimed at reducing the number of Ethiopians detained at various Correctional Facilities across the country which started on 8th September 2022. During this period, the Department secured One-Hundred and Four (104) convictions and refused Twelve (12) persons entry into the country for failing to meet entry requirements.
