THE number of illegal immigrants being arrested in the country is worrisome. Worrisome in the sense that some suspected prohibited immigrants are somehow gaining entry through the porous borders and only being arrested deep in the country.
Our worry is that if these illegal immigrants are not intercepted from the points of entry, there is a high risk of them transmitting diseases such as ebola and others that might have broken out across the borders since they will not be screened.
The number of illegal immigrants that were arrested last year stands at 3,491. But it becomes a source of concern looking at where the immigrants are arrested. How do you explain that people entering the country are so free to the extent of setting up a church?
In as much as we welcome redemption that could come from our brothers and sisters from across the borders that come to set up churches in Zambia, we also ask them to follow the laid down procedures.??Some people have even gone to an extent of setting up illegal chemists and somehow Government drugs are being found in their ‘hospitals.’ So apart from being in Zambia illegally, they also have the audacity of stealing GRZ drugs.
From what was announced at yesterday’s Regional Immigration Officers Annual Conference in Lusaka as the amount of money the Immigration Department raked in last year, there is a possibility that all those efforts of beating the fiscal target are being negated by the expenditure.
It would obviously be cheaper for the Immigration Department to block the illegal immigrants from entering the country instead of waiting until they set up base inland and start incurring the cost of?deporting them back to their countries of origin.
Apart from carrying the threat of transmitting diseases, the illegal immigrants could also be a security risk. For all the Immigration Department could know, maybe some of them are running to the peace haven that Zambia is after committing a crime in their native country.
Stakeholders must, therefore, work together to ensure only immigrants with correct documentation are allowed to enter the country. It is also disheartening to hear of how local people are aiding illegal immigrants to evade the dragnet of authorities.
With the mobile national registration exercise that is starting imminently, we hope the rallying cry by Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila that Zambians must not aid foreigners to access the national document will be heeded to.
It will be folly on the part of Zambians if they chose to cheapen what is supposed to be their only symbol of identity by sharing it with foreigners. We are the same Zambians that will start grappling with the illegal activities some foreigners come with.
At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of every citizen to safeguard the sovereignty of the country in whatever small way each person can contribute. Actually in the case of intermarriages that happen in border areas, it is very easy to get documentation for your spouse if you are marrying a foreigner.
We feel the Immigration Department must work hand-in-hand with the Police to seal the border areas so that no illegal immigrant crosses into the country without proper documentation.
Notwithstanding that, some of the border areas are so vast and difficult to patrol. OPINION