6000 arrested in campaign against illegal immigrants in Botswana

By Tererai Karimakwenda
27 October, 2006

A nationwide campaign against illegal immigrants which began on Monday in Botswana was reported to have netted 6000 individuals by Thursday. Press reports in the country said the police were after all illegals, without targeting any particular nationality. But our correspondent Oscar Nkala reports that the majority of the arrests were of Zimbabweans. He said police, soldiers and special constabularies went door to door in areas known to house large numbers of immigrants from Zimbabwe.

Nkala said the arrested will be taken across the border to Plumtree police station where they will be screened to identify those with a criminal record. Non-criminals will receive some sort of minor punishment like picking up rubbish before being deported. Nkala believes this whole deportation process is a waste of time and resources. He said many who are deported sneak back across the border into Botswana immediately and sometimes get back to the capital Gaberone ahead of the trucks that deported them.
Nkala said the police teams and soldiers swept through Gaberone on Wednesday. They seemed to be visiting places that are known as hubs for Zimbabweans looking for work. According to Nkala Zimbabweans always get special mention whenever the issue of illegal immigrants is discussed on the streets or in the local media. And this week was no exception.