Mozambique: Authorities catch 53 illegal migrants with false documents

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Mozambique: Authorities catch 53 illegal migrants with false documents

10:37 CAT | 21 Oct 2021

FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: RM]

Mozambique’s National Migration Service (Senami) has detained 53 illegal immigrants in Tete, central Mozambique, some of whom were carrying false documents, an official source told Lusa on Wednesday.

“The group was questioned on Monday. Among the detained immigrants, 50 are Malawians and three Ethiopians, aged between 17 and 30,” said Amelia Direito, spokeswoman for Senami in Tete province.

The 50 people of Malawian nationality include four women and were questioned with false documents at a bus terminal in that province when they intended to buy tickets for Maputo, the Mozambican capital, to then go on to South Africa.

“We always have surveillance teams on the spot, first thing in the morning. This is an activity that we are carrying out to discourage the entry of illegal immigrants,” the spokeswoman said.

According to the authorities, the three Ethiopian men were travelling without documents on a long-distance bus and were also bound for South Africa.

The migrants will now be repatriated, Amélia Direito said.

Mozambique is a transit point for thousands of migrants who annually cross the country’s borders to South Africa, one of the biggest economies on the African continent.

Source: Lusa