Deportation of Zimbabweans increases

THE deportation of Zimbabweans illegally residing in Botswana increased towards this year's Easter and Independence holidays, an official has said.

Queues resurfaced at the Plumtree Border Post on Wednesday with the border handling a slight increase in the number of travellers.

In an interview, regional immigration officer in charge of the Western Region, Mr Regies Munyaradzi said: "We started experiencing an influx on Wednesday evening. There were a lot of buses that were bringing people as well as cars that were coming in. There was a lot of congestion and we ended up opening two separate entry points. One for buses and the other for small cars.

"There was also a lot of movement on Thursday morning but the situation had normalised in the afternoon. We were however able to remain above the situation as we were able to maintain short queues in the clearing hall.''

"So far we have been handling more entries than exits as people working in the diaspora have been travelling to spend the Easter Holiday with their families. We also have a number of people travelling to attend church conventions.''

Mr Munyaradzi said they handled 4 958 entries and 1 740 exits on Thursday while they handled a total of 3 713 travellers on Wednesday.

"The last day before the start of the holiday is when we usually handle the most travellers and in this case it was Thursday. A lesser number travels on the actual holiday day," he said.

He said they had handled an increase in deportations over the past few days.

"It appears our neighbours have intensified their measures of deporting illegal immigrants ahead of the Easter Holiday. We handled 281 deportees on Thursday while 208 were handled on Wednesday. Generally the repatriation figures started rising gradually on Tuesday where we handled 208 from 121 on Monday,'' he said.

He said the Plumtree Border Post was not offering a 24-hour service during this Easter Holiday.

Mr Munyaradzi said their Botswana counterparts had ruled out offering a 24-hour service citing a shortage in manpower.

"Initially we had agreed with our Botswana counterparts that we will be offering all day services during all Easter and festive holidays.

"However, they have indicated that they do not have enough staff for this purpose. We tried to reason with them by citing the huge increase in travellers over the Easter holiday but they were not co-operative. As a result we also decided to stick to our normal working hours.

"In the previous years we have been opening 24 hours regardless of how long our counterparts open but this time around we have thought otherwise. It is pointless to clear people on our side when the Botswana side is closed.

"Travellers will just get stuck upon reaching the Botswana side which becomes a hassle for them. Therefore this time around the border is being opened from 6am till 10pm throughout the holiday," Mr Munyaradzi said.

"We have also opened up outside counters so that we are able to clear travellers as quickly as possible. Furthermore we have suspended all off and leave days."