Zimbabwean police have arrested more than 2Â 000 people attempting to cross the border illegally in a 12-day blitz along the country’s extensive border with southern neighbour South Africa, reports said on Tuesday.
Thirty-one of the 2Â 189 illegal immigrants picked up while attempting to cross the Limpopo River were Somalis believed to have escaped from holding camps inside Zimbabwe, said the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
”We picked [up] some of the criminals on their way to South Africa while others were arrested on their way back to Zimbabwe,” police spokesperson Tafanana Dzirutwe told the paper.
He said arrests were part of a police blitz, dubbed Operation Restore Sanity, that took place from November 13 to 25.
Police have subsequently been deployed to monitor more than 200 points along the Limpopo River used as crossing points for those attempting to cross the border.
”We are going to continue with our patrols until sanity is brought to the area,” said Dzirutwe.
South Africa, with its robust economy and strong currency, is a destination of choice for Zimbabweans escaping biting economic hardships at home.
The South African Department of Home Affairs is reported to be deporting about 300 illegal Zimbabwean immigrants a day.
Illegal immigrants from East and Central Africa also use Zimbabwe, with its porous borders, as a conduit to reach South Africa.
In October, 12 Somalis were arrested in Zimbabwe while trying to cross the Limpopo, while another 15 were arrested in northern Zimbabwe after they crossed illegally into the country from Zambia. — Sapa-dpa