/ 3 May 1999

GERMANS TO BUILD MPUMA WALL

ILLEGAL immigrants trying to sneak into the Northern Province may soon find themselves up against German-style security measures after provincial police called in border control experts from the state of Saxony. Provincial safety and security MEC Seth Nthai said on Monday the province has signed a cooperation agreement with Saxony to tap into its expertise at controlling illegal immigrants to Germany from Poland and the Czech Republic. Saxon’s former president of police, Hans-Ulrich Herzberg, has already arrived in the province on a seven-day fact finding mission linked to the cooperation agreement. Over 40000 illegal immigrants have been arrested in the area since January 1999, 90% of them Zimbabwean. In 1998, the province repatriated 176351 illegal immigrants to Mozambique, Zimbabwe or Lesotho.