Police to crackdown on Pakistanis over immigration syndicate: 3 arrested for illegal entry in Malawi

Malawi Police and  Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services will carry a joint operation to crackdown on Pakistanis  in immigration syndicate with  counterfeit passports.

The development comes amid the  arrest of  three Pakistanis in Area 49 in Lilongwe for breaking immigration rules after  the public had  tipped-off the police  that the house was a coronavirus quarantine centre.

Lingadzi Police Station spokesperson Salome Chibwana ssaid: “We received a tip off from the public in Area 49 New Gulliver that there were more than 15 Pakistanis staying in one house and people thought that they used the house as a quarantine centre for coronavirus, so they were worried about their health. That is why they called the police.”

Police find three Pakistanis who they arrested and took to hospital for coronavirus tests that came out negative and arrested  the foreign nationals for illegal immigration.

“We are investigating to see when they came to Malawi and who are behind this syndicate,” said Chibwana.

The Pakistanis were found with a dozen of passports with some Malawian passports as well.

Police are still searching for the others who run away.

Sources say there is a ring of Pakistanis in Lilongwe which is behind the syndicate of illegal migration.

Police said they  could not give more details because investigations to the leads were still in progress.

Pakistanis are taking advantage of corruption  which is said to be high at the Immigration Department, especially in the processing of passports.

In November 2018, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in conjunction with Malawi Police Service arrested 20 Pakistanis and their agents for attempting to enter the country using illegally obtained visas.

ACB senior public relations officer Egritta Ndala said at the time the arrest was part of a probe the ACB launched into allegations of connivance among public officers in allowing foreigners to use the country as a transit route to other southern African countries.

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