Mozambique: 18 illegal migrants detained – Watch

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Mozambique: 18 illegal migrants detained – Watch

7:15 CAT | 26 May 2025

Screen grab: STV

The Mozambican authorities have detained 18 illegal immigrants in Gorongosa district, in the central province of Sofala, according to a report in the independent daily “O Pais”.

The migrants were travelling in what were described as “deplorable conditions” in the back of a trailer being driven from the northern province of Nampula towards Maputo.

The migrants included Ethiopians, Pakistanis and Bengalis. Francisco Chambal, spokesperson for the immigration service in Sofala, said that the passports of the migrants showed that they had left their countries of origin between 8 and 12 May.

They had flown to Malawi, and had then crossed the border into Mozambique illegally.

Chambal said the driver of the truck has been arrested for assisting illegal immigration. He said he had picked the migrants up in Mocuba district, Zambezia province.

“Someone appeared offering me money, and I accepted”, said the truck driver (who was not named in the report). He said he had been promised 60,000 meticais (about 940 US dollars, at the current exchange rate), which would be paid on arrival in Gorongosa.

The migrants had no Mozambican entry visas, and Chambal said the authorities had no idea why they had come to Mozambique. They would be sent back to Malawi on Sunday.

Judging from past experience, the migrants’ intended final destination was South Africa, and they were using Mozambique as a corridor.