ZAMBIA Revenue Authority on Monday intercepted a containerized truck carrying 30 Somali nationals in what authorities believe is a case of human trafficking.

Confirming the incident to Post Online, Immigration Department public relations manager Mulako Mbangweta said her department was alerted after the ZRA impounded the truck ferrying over 30 Somali nationals with ages ranging between ages of 11 and 25.

The Somali nationals who claimed to have been traveling from Chinsali are believed to have been smuggled into the country through Nakonde border and were intercepted in Chisamba at a roadblock on Monday around 01:30 hrs.
“ZRA wanted to check what was in the truck. It was a containerized truck so they were certain that it was carrying cargo.

So the officers tried to check it so that they could see what was inside, but when they tried to open it they failed and so they directed it to go to the Lusaka dry port so they could open and check the cargo and see the merchandise which was there,” she narrated.
“But when they reached a place called Chikumbi the track failed to ascend.

As the officers were following behind they saw the truck surrounded by people. Initially, the officers thought there was looting going on but later they realized that the people who had surrounded the truck were foreign nationals.”

Mbangweta who was visibly touched by the incident, said that the saddest thing was that the illegal immigrants who were mainly minors were subjected to inhuman treatment while being transported through Kenya as well as Tanzania.
She said the Immigration Department has not yet established where the Somalians were headed as they have just disclosed that they were told they were being taken to a better country.

“..right now we cannot even determine where they were being taken because the trafficker is not known. The driver of the truck said he was just paid to ferry the people to Lusaka from Chinsali but certainly any intelligent person can tell he was lying,“ Mbagweta said.

According to Mbangweta the illegal immigrants said that they were tired of the civil war in their country and that they wanted to stay in a peaceful country.

The department has, however, detained the driver and another Somali national in possession of a Zambian work permit who was present at the scene and is suspected to have conspired with the trafficker of the immigrants into Zambia.
She said the illegal immigrants would remain held at Lusaka Central Prison until the matter is taken to court next week.

“Currently they are detained at Lusaka Central Prison which is not our wish as most them are minors and looking at the pathetic conditions in prisons we wouldn’t want to put them in prison but the Immigration department does not have alternative places were we can keep them,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking as most of these are between the ages of 11 and 25. This truck has no ventilation and these immigrants were subjected to urinating in water bottle containers,” she lamented.

Source: http://www.postzambia.com/post-print_article.php?articleId=12877

The Post Newspapers Zambia
By Kombe Chimpinde on Thursday 19 August 2010