Kamlepo says Indians, Chinese, Nigerians exploiting Malawi youth: Minister Dausi conceded porus borders aiding illegal immigrants

Member of Parliament from Rumphi East, Kamlepo Kalua has said in Parliament that some  Indians , Chinese and Nigerians are exploiting the Malawi youth, especial girls who are used as drug traffickers.

Kalua said foreigners have now made Malawi their heaven such that they enter the country illegally and do “dirty business”.

He said: “ They come here to do criminal acts and not invest as they claim when entering. This is serious and should be  addressed.”

Kalua asked the Minister of Homeland Security, Nicholas Dausi to explain  what government is doing to curb the influx of illegal immigrants who pose a security threat.

Dausi said government will come up with a serious and comprehensive response in a quest to curb huge influx of illegal immigrants  and admitted that the country has porus borders.

“Our country is indeed facing an influx of people from other countries who mostly are irregular immigrants. Statistics show that the majority of such irregular migrants are mainly from countries like Ethiopia and Somalia, Nigeria. However some Chinese and Indians have overstayed because their work permits are overdue.

“Most of the immigrants use unchartered route and  claim that they are seeking asylum in the county which is compromising the security risks in our country as government, we would like to make sure that there is a thorough vetting as to who is doing what, where and why,” he said.

The Minister said there are a number of strict measures the government has put in place to address the issue.

He said government has intensified swiping operations and patrols and has introduced a comprehensive public awareness programs for dealing with illegal immigrants in the country.

Dausi urged  members of parliament to sensitize their communities to stop supporting illegal immigrants in the country.

“Let us sensitize our constituencies that should they see people who are not Malawians using unchartered routes, they must report to police or immigration department, they should not aid or abet entrance of illegal I immigrants,” he pointed out.

The Minister added that the government is increasing the number of Immigration and Police officers to deal with the challenge and  has embarked on computerization of border exit points to  track and target  busy borders.

“In October, 2018, we recruited 246 new Immigration Officers deployed across the country. We are training our officers how best they can identify those that are coming as illegal irregular immigrants.

“In the office we are computerizing and automating the assurance of permits and issuance of passports to be able to analyze who is doing what and for what particular reason,” he highlighted.

Dausi said that his Ministry would work hand in hand with Ministries of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and Trade to deal with issues of land given to foreign nations and their business operations in the country.

“The Ministry will coordinate with the two ministries in order to sensitize our officers that before they give permit for trade or whatever or investment or even the acquisition of land to immigrants, they must consider Malawians first because at the end of the day, we don’t want Malawians to be refugees in their own country,” he explained.

Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Clement Chiwaya requested the Minister to come up with a comprehensive Ministerial statement to clarify to members as to how there is an increase influx of migrants in the country.

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