By ALICE NACHILEMBE
The Department of immigrations has removed 190 illegal immigrants from the country and has relocated 95 Refugees of different nationalities in a mass removal and relocation exercise.
Immigrations Department Public Relations Officer Namati Nshinka said that those removed and relocated were among the 313 detained in the three-day clean-up operation recently conducted in various parts of Lusaka.
Mr Nshinka said that the Department relocated the refugees to Mayukwayukwa and Maheba Refugee Camps as they had no authority to be outside the refugee camps.
He said the Department released the other 28 upon production of proof of valid immigration status.
Meanwhile, the Mpika Immigration Office, on 30th May, 2022 secured the conviction of three Tanzanian Truck Divers, Mashemb Benson 30, Ahmed Mohamed 29, and Kambona Malale 36, for the offences of aiding illegal immigrants to enter Zambia contrary to the Immigration and Deportation Act.
They were each sentenced to pay a fine of K 60,000 or, in default, two years simple imprisonment.
The Mpika convictions bring the number of convictions secured by the Department between May 30 and 31 2022, 53.
During this period, the Department also apprehended Thirty-Three (33) persons for various immigration offences countrywide
Mr Nshinka said the convictions of the three (03) Drivers in Mpika must serve as a warning to any person having similar ideas.
He said like harboring, aiding is a grave offence, and the punishment meted on the three Tanzanians is only the minimum, the maximum being K 150,000 or 5 years.
“We also wish to urge refugees to get the necessary permission to leave the refugee settlements,” he said.
