National migration policy to clamp down on illegal migrants
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday July 30, 2014 11:14
Speaking at the Pitso on Irregular Migration held at Maharaja Conference Centre yesterday, Batshu said the current policy to arrest and repatriate illegal immigrants had not yielded satisfactory results considering that the country continues to experience high illegal cross-border flow. He said Botswana repatriates an average of 42,111 illegal migrants annually, adding that they have spent over P2million on the repatriation exercise since 2011.
“In 2010, the Immigration Act was reviewed in an effort to strengthen immigration controls. The penalties for irregular stay and hiring of illegal migrants were reviewed. The penalty amount for overstaying in the country was increased from P10 to P100 per day. However, this has not reduced irregular migration and over staying which propelled us to look for better ways to manage this challenge,” he explained.
Batshu noted that it is priority to devise effective policies to manage the influx of illegal immigrants although the economy has benefited from migrant skills. He, however, said contention emanates from migrants’ decisions to forfeit their employment benefits in lieu of their liberty, and stay in the country illegally.
He revealed that saturation in the labour market created by irregular migrants who are willing to work for low wages under poor working conditions pollutes the local labour market. “They suffer in silence because being here is better than being repatriated to the squalid conditions in their home countries,” he said. He noted that although it’s understandable that migrants come here for economic opportunities, the current position of the law is to arrest and repatriate illegal immigrants.