Tanzania March 2006 |
|
| Suspected illegal immigrants arrested, (The Nation, 2006-03-31):-Twenty-nine suspects are being questioned by police over claims of being in the country illegally. The Somalis and Tanzanians were arrested at Ngomeni village, north of Malindi, where they were waiting for their boat to be repaired. District Commissioner Jan Ireri said preliminary investigations indicated that the foreigners had left Mogadishu on March 23 aboard MV Hazina with a crew of 13 and 20 passengers. "Their boat developed mechanical problems forcing them to get off at Ngomeni. Residents got suspicious and reported the matter to the police," he said. The boat's captain Ali Bakari Mohamed told police he had been ordered by militiamen in Mogadishu to take the passengers to Msikiti Nuru in Magongo on the Mombasa mainland west. He did not not say how much money he was paid to do the job and which militia group gave him the contract. He said among a crew of 13, nine were Somalis and two were Tanzanians. He was however unable to give the nationalities of the other two. Evidence gathered by the police indicated there was a cartel involved in smuggling Somalis to Kenya, he said, adding that among those arrested were four women and two children. Mr Ireri said despite the coastline being porous, the government was using the community policing programme to arrest illegal foreigners. "All these suspects were arrested through cooperation between the police and the community," he said. The Somalis said they had been forced to travel to Kenya to escape the heavy fighting in Somalia. The suspects' arrest came as current commander of the joint coalition forces against terror in the Horn of Africa Hank Ort, who is visiting Mombasa, said the Somali waters were the most dangerous in the world because of piracy. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |