Corruption involving immigration stakeholders is to blame for escalating trend of illegal immigrants in the Sub Saharan region.
To curb the alarming trend, collective efforts by the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are instrumental in addressing the problem.
Speaking to journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday after he officiated the identity management workshop, the Home Affairs deputy minister, Mr Pereira Ame Silima, investment from EAC and SADC was needed to identify the syndicate and corruption methods used by the culprits.
“Member countries should be encouraged to fight corruption in their respective countries so as to completely dismantle the network,” said Mr Silima.
According to Mr Silima, the network was huge with roots in almost every country considered to be the corridor for illegal immigrants and payments were effected after completing the human trafficking process.
He said Tanzania has been unlucky as reports showed that unfaithful immigration officials from neighbouring countries have been facilitating entry of illegal immigrants in the country.
“Among many countries named to facilitate the illegal business include Ethiopia…They distribute money to stakeholders available in various countries including Tanzania who ultimately support the culprits,” he said.
Explaining further, he said the culprits went on getting support till the illegal immigrants enters the targeted country of destination, preferably South Africa due to its socio-economic achievements.
He expressed his optimism that the three-day workshop that gathers officials from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania, will address various challenges and propose mitigation strategies for the benefit of the region.
According to Mr Silima, the countries are facing a challenge of having tribes that have ethnic interconnectivity with others in a neighbouring country, something that posed difficulty in smoothening cross border movements.
Giving examples, Mr Silima said Makonde and Makuwa are found in Tanzania and Mozambique, Nyasa exists both in Tanzania and Malawi, Maasai, Luo, Digo and Kurya between Tanzania and Kenya whereas Nyamwanga has cross border ethnic nexus in Tanzania and Zambia.
He said implementation of the project to issue identity cards to Tanzanians and plans under way to introduce the electronic immigration (e-migration) were among measures undertaken by the government to address challenges and facilitate smooth cross border movements.
“Hopefully, participants from Malawi and Zambia will learn something by the end of this workshop especially in implementing the national citizen identity project for their countries” he said.
He added: “It will benefit the region if Zambia and Malawi start a process of issuing national identities to their citizen… Mozambique has identification system adapted from the colonial era, something that puts them at a better position in implementing these strategies.”
Emphasizing on the significance of migration in today’s world, Mr Silima said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that some 214 million people have migrated from one place to another.
Therefore, Mr Silima said governments need not to discourage people from migrating, instead create conducive environment that will smoothen the interaction process of people from different countries.
The IOM chief of mission, Mr Damien Thuriaux, said the capacity building workshop intended to empower immigration officials from the region to fully understand the opportunities and challenges facing their responsibilities.
“Since free market and the signed EAC Common Market protocol calls for unrestricted movement of goods and people, the workshop is aimed to facilitate smooth movements but maintaining security and cultural norms of respective countries,” he noted.
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