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Zambia: We Are Perturbed by Persistent Reports
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The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
EDITORIAL
7 May 2008
Posted to the web 7 May 2008
Ndola
WE are perturbed by persistent reports on the painstaking exercise by the Immigration Department to round up and deport foreigners living in Zambia illegally.
This is not only a tedious exercise but also a drain on the hard earned material and financial resources that could be better spent on pressing areas such as health and education.
In the last few days, 85 suspected illegal immigrants, 60 of them sex workers have been picked up and deported to their countries of origin after being found without valid papers.
While many of these prohibited immigrants are from neighbouring countries, several others have come from Europe and Asia, which indicates that there may be some weaknesses in our laws that need to be tightened.
What is mind boggling is that most of the deported sex workers were picked up from known guest houses without authorities in the hospitality industry raising an eye brow.
What needs to be done now is to withdraw trading licences from guesthouses habouring illegal immigrants so that others get the message.
Once this is done, there will be no safe haven for any one to hide and visitors will be promptly returned to their countries of origin instead of Government deporting the same people over and over again.
Unfortunately they find a porous system that does not monitor the movement of visitors until they engage in illicit trade such as crime and prostitution.
We are therefore urging the Government to strengthen the Immigration Department so that stringent entry regulations are put in place and visitors monitored upon entry until their entry visas expire.
The Immigration Department, which is working under very difficult conditions, deserves a pat on the back and their decision to extend this 'clean-up' operation from the Southern Province to Lusaka and the Copperbelt must be encouraged.
It may act as a warning to these illegal immigrants that the dragnet is closing in on them, but it is one sure way of dissuading other would be illegal visitors that Zambia would be firm on any one taking advantage of the nation's hospitality.
Zambians must also learn to be patriotic and heed Immigration Department spokesperson, Mulako Mbangweta's call that they should report all illegal activities by foreign nationals instead of habouring them.
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It is our belief that once Zambians get involved, the problem would be nipped in the bud and the levels of crime and prostitution would be drastically reduced.
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