By 
The Department of Immigration has deported 263 suspected illegal immigrants in a recent mass removal operation.
Immigration Public Relations Officer, Namati Nshinka, reported that the deported individuals included 198 Burundians, 34 Congolese, 16 Tanzanians, 12 Rwandese and three Ugandans.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Sunday, Nshinka explained that the majority of these individuals were apprehended on September 4, 2024, during a joint clean-up operation conducted across various parts of Lusaka.
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Out of 357 individuals apprehended, 283 were detained for various immigration offenses.
“Most of the suspects were ordinarily supposed to have been prosecuted, but the Department decided to remove them from the country to help decongest the Correctional Facilities where they had been detained,” Nshinka added.
He also noted that the Department was still holding 40 bicycles abandoned by their owners who fled during the operation. Nshinka appealed to the owners to retrieve their property.
Additionally, Nshinka issued a warning to refugees and persons of concern against misusing the asylum system to facilitate illegal entry and stay of others in the country.
“We further wish to warn Refugees and Persons of Concern to desist from abusing the asylum system by inviting and assisting friends and relatives to enter and stay in the country illegally,” he stated.
“The Department will not hesitate to prosecute any such person for aiding, abetting, and harboring, which carry a fine of between K 80,000 and K200,000 or a prison term of between two to five years, or both,” Nshinka concluded.
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