Harare: Zimbabwe arrested about 13 000 people for immigration-related offences during the first four months of 2022, state media reported on Sunday.
Quoting figures from the Department of Immigration, The Sunday Mail said most of those arrested were penalised for breaching the section of Zimbabwe’s Immigration Act that prohibits entry into the country through undesignated ports of entry.
“We have managed to arrest 12 941 illegal immigrants so far,” the department is quoted as saying.
This is about 7% of the more than 187 000 people who entered Zimbabwe between January and April this year, according to statistics from the immigration department.
The number of people entering or leaving the country has rapidly increased since the reopening of Zimbabwe’s land borders in February, with an average of 5 000 travellers passing through the ports of entry daily.
The figures show that in January, 26 872 entered the country while 35 474 used official borders to exit. A total of 22 919 people were allowed entry into the country in February, with 15 482 exiting.
The numbers rose sharply in March when 57 662 people entered Zimbabwe through the country’s borders while 39 589 exited.
Some 80 300 entered the country in April while 62 655 used the border to exit, according to the statistics.
APA
