via 37 illegal Ethiopian immigrants nabbed | The Herald June 23, 2014 by Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Police have intercepted 37 illegal Ethiopian immigrants as they made their way to South Africa through an illegal entry point along the Limpopo River.
The police officer commanding Beitbridge district Chief Superintend Patrick Majuta last Friday said the group was intercepted on Thursday afternoon aboard a Sharon Transport bus en route to South Africa.
He said the gang was arrested following a tip-off. Chief Supt Majuta said the Ethiopians had since been charged for contravening a section of the Immigration Act.
“The group had been in Zimbabwe illegally for two days pending their skipping the border to South Africa.
“When we intercepted them they had no valid travel documents
“We are yet to establish the port of entry they used,” he said.
He said the suspects had since been taken to Beitbridge Magistrates’ Court where they were remanded in custody to July 4 for trial due to technical challenges.
“They were not tried yesterday due to the unavailability of an Amharic interpreter,” he said.
Chief Supt Majuta said the police were on high alert for illegal immigrants from the Horn of Africa.
Of late there has been an increase in immigrants from Pakistan, Ethiopia, DRC and Somalia who enter the country illegally and try to skip the border to South Africa.
These are reportedly entering the country through Harare International Airport, Nyamapanda, Chirundu and Forbes border posts with the assistance of human trafficking syndicates operating in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Recently the Department of Immigration intercepted 18 Pakistan nationals who were en route to South Africa illegally.
It is understood that there is not much synchronisation of the movement control system at the country’s ports of entry which would help reduce irregular migration.
The assistant regional immigration officer in charge of compliance, Mr Francis Mabika, said recently that these migrants were entering the country through other ports of entry were there were minimal physical demarcations.
“You will note that we intercept these people at Beitbridge border where we have the Limpopo River,” he said.
COMMENTS
I cant believe even the Ethiopians are leaving Zimbabwe for the land of Egoli !!
Someone in zanupf got bribes. by the way are us stopped taxpayers still fundind Mugabe’s tyrant blood brother mengistu in luxury ???????
This just tells one the failure of the AU.
Don’t think the Ethiopians want to stay where Mengistu lives.
These pple were enroute to sa.they shud have let them go coz now the cash strapped zim gov is now feeding them
While your sending them home send Mengistu with them, in fact deport all the despots and villains that Bob has welcomed to Zim.
let them go to SA. Why syop them to only lock them in Chikurubi? If RSA treayted Zimbabwean border jumpers like that, would we be happy?
And when the South African economy collapses as no doubt it will then where do all the African economic refugees run to??? Surely not the nasty colonial masters????
Zimbabwe complains about 30 Ethiopians.
What is SA to say about more then half a million Zimbabweans?
No one you don’t like to leave his cuntry with out probelem please at least put on the refuge camp?