Gud naw. Tewaredin eko. Even the stupid little poor Malawi doesn’t want us.
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By Shalom Mkandawire
Nayasa Times — Malawi’s Department of Immigration says some Malawians are frustrating its efforts to contain the influx of illegal immigrants into the country.
Assistant Chief Immigration Officer, Selwin Simfukwe, who is also Regional Immigration Officer for the north said this Thursday in an interview with Nyasa Times in Mzuzu.
This follows reports of an existing syndicate in the northern region that is said to be aiding illegal entries of foreigners into the country through unchartered before hiding them within local neighbourhoods.
“We are concerned with the conduct of some Malawians who have a tendency to harbour illegal foreigners in the country,” said Simfukwe adding immigration officer’s were doing all it could to curb the problem.
He bemoaned this tendency, saying it negatively affects the department’s operations and that it undermines all efforts to repatriate as many illegal immigrants as possible to their countries.
The immigration officer however said inadequate machinery and human resource are also crippling the department’s operations.
“Of course we have a shortage of resources at our offices but we are doing all what we can to arrest the problem,” he said.
The Regional Immigration Officer therefore warned Malawians against providing unauthorised refuge to aliens and appealed to all northerners to report those suspected to be behind the malpractice to his office.
Early this year, Immigration officers in Rumphi nabbed seven Ethiopians in the district after entering Malawi illegally through Hewe border post.
According to Nyasa Times sources, the syndicate aiding unlawful immigrants comprises Malawians, Tanzanians and Zambians and it operates along the Songwe border area in Karonga and Mbeya in neighbouring Tanzania.
Last year, former Home Affairs minister Bob Khamisa, confirmed reports that Malawi was at a huge security risk following continued influx of illegal aliens entering the country using uncharted routes.