Immigration sends 9 foreigners to Dzaleka
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services has sent to Dzaleka Refugee Camp nine foreign nationals who were caught doing business without documentation. The suspects were apprehended at Manje Trading Centre in Blantyre.
Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services Deputy National Spokesperson, Wellington Chiponde, confirmed the development in an interview. He said those arrested include six men, two women and a boy.
Of the nine suspects, five are Rwandans, three are Burundians while one is from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The suspects were taken to Blantyre Central Magistrate’s Court where they were given suspended sentences and sent back to Dzaleka Refugee Camp.
“We carried out thorough investigations and established that, indeed, the foreign nationals were doing business in Manje Township [Blantyre] without proper documentation. We managed to arrest them and took them to court where Chief Resident Magistrate Kitty Nkhono gave them suspended sentences and sent them back to Dzaleka [Refugee] Camp.
“There are designated places such as Dzaleka and Luwani refugee camps which government set to accommodate refugees and refugees are not allowed to conduct any business outside those camps,” Chiponde said.
Chiponde has therefore warned landlords in the country to desist from accommodating foreigners who do not have proper documentation, saying such conduct is punishable by law.
“Let me also take this opportunity to warn landlords that providing shelter to foreigners who do not have permission [is punishable] because such conduct contravenes the law,” Chiponde said.
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