567 nabbed in immigration crackdown

THE Department of Immigration’s regional compliance and enforcement unit has in the last seven days rounded up 567 suspected criminals at Beitbridge Border Post as it intensifies its crackdown on irregular migration among other crimes between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The move is meant to curtail criminal activities, among them border jumping, touting, the use of fake immigration stamps, and fake travel documents.

The head of compliance at Beitbridge Border Post, assistant regional immigration officer Mrs Canisia Magaya, said they are not relenting in the fight against crime.

She urged people to embrace legal and safe migration methods.

“In a bid to continuously weed out undesirables operating at the border, the Department of Immigration has intensified operations. These operations target wheeler dealers, touts, and irregular travelers,” said Mrs Magaya.

“In the past week alone, the Department recorded 567 arrests, of which 561 paid fines while six went to court, and five were convicted while one was warned. We are happy with the outcome as it will serves as a warning to would-be offenders.”

Mrs Magaya said they are targeting all known criminal hotspots.

She said the compliance operations will remain in force until further notice.

“At the same time, as we continue to enforce the law, we are also educating travellers and the general populace on the need to embrace safe migration methods,” said Mrs Magaya.

She said the introduction of automated and biometrics-related services had also helped in terms of monitoring illegal activities at the border.

The border post is an access point for close to 15 000 travellers, 3 000 private cars, 200 buses, and 1200 commercial trucks daily. The facility was recently upgraded by Government in partnership with the ZimBorders Consortium.

The modernisation of the Beitbridge Border Post at a cost of US$300 million will pave way for the implementation of a one-stop border between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The border authorities are targeting those travellers using the new freight terminal, the bus terminal, border parameters, north and south entry gates including sections of the light vehicle.

“We are determined to make the new look border a world-class facility that is closed to illegal activities but only open to genuine travellers,” said Mrs Magaya.

She said besides fighting to curb irregular migration at the border, they want to minimise cases of genuine travellers falling prey to touts.

Mrs Magaya advised travellers to adhere to the laws governing the border to avoid being conned.

“It is important for the travellers to cooperate with our officials for customized services at the three terminals,” she said.

@tupeyo