Mr Irovya and old a news conference in Dar Es Salaam that between December 24, last year and January 7, this year, the immigration officials arrested 402 suspects from more than 17 countries who were living in the country illegally.
Between January 8 and 14 this year another 553 suspects from 13 different nations were nabbed before the immigration department launched investigation against them.
This means a total of 955 people have so far been arrested since the government launched a crackdown against foreigners who are staying and working in the country illegally. Out of those according to Mr Irovya, 126 suspects were arrested in Dar es Salaam alone between December 24 and January 19.
However, according to Assistant Director of Tanzania Information Services (Maelezo), Ms Zamaradi Kawawa the ongoing operation to crackdown people staying or working in the country did not aim at evicting foreigners working or doing business in the country and give jobs to the natives, as it is being propagated in different social media inside and outside the country.
There has been a heated debate in the social media concerning the ongoing operation, with foreigners pouring out their anger and accusing the government that it is targeting their people working in Tanzania.
“The rumours are not true, they only started after immigration officials started implementing their duties of flushing out people living in the country without valid residential and work permits and between November and December last year 372 people were evicted from the country,” said Ms Kawawa.
The Deputy Commissioner General of the immigration department said Burundi, Ethiopia and China had many residents who were staying or working in the country without possession of residential or work permits.
“Some of the Burundians came because of the ongoing political impasse in their country, therefore they entered in the country in their bid to seek refuge but failed to follow proper procedures,” he said.
He added that some of them have already been handed over to the department dealing with refugees, while others have been arraigned in court and that some of the illegal immigrants had been deported.
After investigation, Mr Irovya said, his department found out that there was a syndicate of people that was inducing people from Ethiopia to enter Tanzania with a view to take them to other countries.
“Tanzanians who are engaging themselves in human trafficking should know that they are violating the law and they face serious legal implications,” he noted.
For foreigners working in the country, Mr Irovya asked them and their employers to abide by the Non-Citizens Employment Regulation Act, 2015 in order to avoid collision with his department.
The operation to evict non-citizens working in the country without permits did not start after the fifth phase government took over. Last year for example, between January and December, 1,642 foreigners who were living in the country illegally were deported.
Culled from Daily News
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