Zambia: Grappling with Ethiopian illegal immigrants

CHIMWEMWE MWALE, Lusaka – HARDLY a month passes without news about a dozen or more foreign nationals being arrested mostly for illegal entry or stay in Zambia or both.News of their illegal entry into the country in containerised trucks, among other unorthodox means of entry into the country, is perhaps not strange anymore.

The Immigration Department is on record of having thwarted several other isolated incidences and attempts by some foreign nationals to illegally enter and perhaps stay in Zambia.

Despite the department’s watchful eye, Zambia continues to record an influx ofillegal immigrants, who sometimes use un-gazetted paths owing to the porous nature of the country’s vast border lines.

The latest and last episode to ‘swathe’ 2014 was when the Immigration Department (Chinsali regional office) arrested 16 male Ethiopians aged between 16 and 22 years on December 29.

The foreign nationals were found locked in a house in the border town of Nakonde. The house belonged to a suspected human trafficker identified as Justin Sikazwe.

According to a statement released by Immigration Department public relations officerNamati Nshinka, immigration officers were successfully led to the house by a named Zambian.

Mr Nshinka said Mr Sikazwe was not found at the time of the raid.

“However, the 16 Ethiopians were discovered after the officers compelled Mr Sikazwe’s wife to open the door to the house. The Zambian who led the officers to the house is currently being questioned and Mr Sikazwe is being pursued,” Mr Nshinka stated.

Earlier in February, the Department arrested 31 Ethiopians in Nakonde for illegal entry?into the country while in 2009, some Somali youths believed to be victims of an international syndicate involved in human?trafficking, were intercepted.

The illegal immigrants aged between 25 and 40 were?arrested by a combined team of immigration and police officers at?Peulu area on Great East Road.

In the same year, 54 other Ethiopians were each fined K100 each or 20 days simple imprisonment in default.
This was after they pleaded guilty before Kabwe principal resident?magistrate John Mbuzi.

The trend is amidst assurances from Government that it would continue to seal all security?loopholes to ensure illegal immigration is curbed.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo said Government is working towards ensuring that this goal is achieved by deploying more security officers to border areas.

Mr Kampyongo also urged members of the public to work closely with relevant authorities to address the challenge.

It certainly creates more questions than answers on what fuels a trend that is sometimes seen as a case of human trafficking or perhaps an illegal ‘exodus’ of foreign nationals for the proverbial greener pastures in other sovereign territorial states.

It has also been established that some illegal immigrants are sometimes in transit to neighbouring countries like South Africa in search of menial jobs with the hope of later graduating to become entrepreneurs.
This trend is significantly under scrutiny by the Immigration Department.

Mr Nshinka expounds that some arrests recorded by the Department in 2014 were due to some foreign nationals entering the country without travelling documents.

He adds that in certain instances, some foreign nationals have found their way into Zambia with the help of smugglers who transport them either to enter or transit through Zambia at a fee.

Zambia is said to be both a destination and a transit point for human trafficking.

“In the recent past, the majority of those intercepted in such a manner have been Ethiopian nationals and to a less extent Somalis,” Mr Nshinka observes.

He says some of those arrested by the department have since been repatriated to their countries of origin.

Mr Nshinka says arrangements with concerned governments to repatriate those still in custody have reached an advanced stage.

“The Department has observed with concern that some people involved in human trafficking have discovered new routes for transporting undocumented persons which makes detection by the conventional mounting of road blocks and check points by security personnel very difficult,” he points out.

“We would like to appeal to members of the public not to relent in reporting any suspicious persons or groups of persons, especially those found in unusual locations and circumstances, to the nearest immigration office,” Mr Nshinka urges.

He says some of the human smugglers are opting to walk over long distances and later get on motor vehicles in places clear of check points to elude immigration and security officers.

Other than Zambia, most Southern African countries are said to be recording many arrests of illegal immigrants, especially from Ethiopia.

According to a report released by the International Organisation for Migration in August 2014, Ethiopia is the main source country for men, women and children trafficked to other countries.

In November 2014, Standard Digital-a Kenyan online publication reported that more than Sh90 million (US$989,100) is illegally earned by human traffickers monthly by smuggling Ethiopians across the Kenya–Ethiopia border with the prospect of sending them by road to South Africa.

Zambia is said to be one of the transit points for human trafficking and illegal immigrants to countries like South Africa.

“On average, 30 Ethiopians allegedly illegally cross the Kenyan border daily in a racket that has been going on for the last 15 years,” Standard Digital states.

This perhaps points to a hint as to why Zambia is having a ‘fair share’ of illegal immigrants and perhaps trafficked humans.