Ntsoaki Motaung
The Ministry of Home Affairs has announced once again the intercepted and returned Chinese Nationals who attempted to enter Lesotho using fraudulent permits on Wednesday.
A female Chinese was stopped at Moshoeshoe I International Airport while the other one, male, was stopped at Oliver Tambo International Airport, Republic of South Africa before boarding a flight to Lesotho.
The Ministry is working tirelessly not only stop illegal entry into Lesotho but also to stop Human Trafficking and its elements at all costs.
The Principal Secretary (PS) of Home Affairs Tumelo Raboletsi indicated that after the immigration officers find out that the female citizen of the Republic of China has fraudulent permit, she was then interrogated to get further information from her.
“Her documents indicated that she was coming in the country for investment purposes but there were no other documents to prove that. It was then when she was questioned when she changed her story saying the male Chinese that was stooped at OR Tambo was her husband. But she failed to provide marriage certificate and other documents that proved that,†he said.
Raboletsi indicated that after realizing that there is a chance that the male Chinese could also be carrying fraudulent permit, the ministry communicated with OR Tambo to really check that men’s documents and the situation seemed to be same and he was returned.
He said that now that the ministry has started giving out the residents permits, it may happen that the numbers of foreigners returned trying to enter Lesotho illegally with fraudulent papers may increase but the ministry with its immigration officers are working hard for that not to happen.
He said though he cannot say the exact numbers there are about 15 to 20 foreigners returned trying to enter Lesotho illegally.
