The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Illegal immigrants

  • Trump widens net for immigrant deportation

    The Donald Trump administration has issued tough guidelines to widen the net for deporting illegal immigrants from the United States, and speed up their removal.

    Undocumented immigrants arrested for traffic violations or shop-lifting will be targeted along with those convicted of more serious crimes, the BBC reports.

    The memos do not alter U.S immigration laws, but take a much tougher approach towards enforcing existing measures.

    There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

    The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new blueprint leaves in place Obama-era protections for immigrants who entered the U.S illegally as children.

    But it expands the more restricted guidance issued under the previous administration, which focused its policy on immigrants convicted of serious crimes, threats to national security or those who had recently crossed the border.

    The DHS plans to hire an extra 10,000 agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 5,000 more border patrol officers to enforce the new guidance.

     

  • Insecurity: NIS vows to flush out illegal immigrants

    Insecurity: NIS vows to flush out illegal immigrants

    The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Martin Abeshe, says the Service had put in place new stringent measures to flush out illegal migrants from Nigeria.

    Abeshe made the disclosure at a world press briefing on migration and border management issues in Nigeria on Friday in Abuja.

    He decried the menace of illegal immigrants in the country and noted that the service had arrested and deported a lot of culprits across the country.

    “I am sure you have been hearing of arrests and deportation of these illegal migrants by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) from across the country.

    “We are up to the task; our officers in the various parts of the country are performing very well, that is why today there has been a drastic drop in the number of foreigners who commit crime and violence in the country.

    “We have also put in place additional measures to checkmate any foreigner that is here to disrupt the peace we are enjoying,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that about 500 migrants were recently arrested by the NIS in Niger, of whom 300 were declared illegal immigrants and awaiting deportation.

    Abeshe also said that the NIS was doing a lot to ensure more efficiency in the production of international passports for Nigerians in line with international best practice.

    He said as part of efforts to reposition the Service, the NIS had concluded plans to host the Comptroller-General of Immigration Annual Conference and Stakeholders Interactive Forum.

    He said the forum would afford participants opportunity to access the performance of the NIS compared to world best practice.

    Abeshe said that recommendations reached at the end of the conference would be presented to the Federal Executive Council and could be gazetted as a policy document that would transform operations of the NIS.

    He said that the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, European Union (EU) and local and foreign migration and border experts would deliver papers at the conference.

    NAN reports that the conference would take place between April 6 and April 8 in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

     

  • Niger cracks down on illegal immigrants

    The Niger State command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), will soon kick off a campaign to flush out illegal immigrants in the state.

    The state Comptroller of the NIS David Adi said the influx of illegal immigrants poses a security risk to the state, but added that the exercise is not political.

    Speaking to The Nation in Minna, the state capital, Adi said, “We need to mop up and remove illegal immigrants from time to time in order for them not to become security threats to the state. There are many of them who do not have travel documents in Niger State as of today. Those without business have no business to be here.”

    The Comptroller did not say when the exercise would begin but that could be a tactic in order to catch the illegal immigrants off guard. He then said that all Divisional Immigration offices will be supervised and monitored to ensure that every officer does his duty effectively adding that any officer found wanting will be penalised.

     

  • Nigerian Navy repatriates 24 illegal Gabonees immigrants

    The Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy on Sunday at the Shore line jetty, Calabar, repatriated 24 illegal immigrants from Gabon.

    The immigrants were among 41 foreigners in a transport vessel, AV Agamba impounded by the Navy during a routine patrol on Thursday.

    Also aboard the vessel were no fewer than 200 Nigerians. Commodore Marcus Bobai, the Commander of Nigeria’s Navy Ship, Victory told newsmen that the Gabonese immigrants were repatriated for entering Nigerian territory without valid traveling documents.

    According to him, their repatriation was in line with the Federal government’s policy to tighten up security at the Nation’s borders.

    He warned that the Navy would no longer allow foreigners or passengers of vessels without valid travelling documents to enter the country through the ports.

    Bobai said that following interception of the vessel on Jan. 21 the passengers were handed over to the relevant agencies which screened them under tight security and discovered that some of them did not possess relevant traveling documents.

    “We discovered that 24 out of the 41 passengers have no valid passports that will guarantee them entry into Nigeria.

    “The Nigerian Navy ensured that the illegal passengers remained on the ship without stepping their feet on the Nigerian soil and we are repatriating them back to Gabon under tight security.

    “This will serve as a strong warning to the Gabonese Government as well as other African countries which think they can always enter Nigeria through the back door and dump people anyhow,“ he said.

    He said that naval gunboats had been mandated to escort the Gabonese in the same vessel that brought them.

    “We are concerned about security; we have tightened security on our waterways in such a way that as a foreigner if you do not have your valid travelling documents, you will not be allowed access into the country.

    “Following the security challenges in the country, we do not allow just anybody to enter into the country and that is why we did a thorough screening on them.

    “We have also warned the agent, who brought them from Gabon to desist from the act and ensure that anybody he intends to bring into this country has a valid traveling document, “ he said.

    He warned that henceforth the navy would deny access to berth at the jetty any vessel that brings in non-Nigerians without valid traveling documents.

  • NIS deports 201 illegal immigrants from Niger – Official

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) said on Sunday in Minna, that it repatriated 201 illegal immigrants in Niger from February to March.

    Mr Ezekiel Kaura, the Comptroller of Immigration in the state, stated this when he addressed newsmen.

    According to him, the repatriation will assist the government to flush out potential trouble makers in the state.

    “We are doing some mop up of illegal immigrants in the state because of the elections that is about to take place.

    “There is need to get rid of these illegal ones in our midst so that they do not become ready for some persons who may use them to cause havoc during and after the elections.

    He said the command deported 107 illegal immigrants in February, adding that another batch of 65 non-Nigerians were apprehended in March, bringing the number to 172.

    “ We are expecting another 29 illegal immigrants from Kotangora area of the state. So, at the end of the day, we have 201.”

    Kaura said that NIS would continue to get rid of illegal immigrants in the country in line with the policy of the Federal Government.

  • Boko Haram: Immigration deports 182 illegal immigrants

    Boko Haram: Immigration deports 182 illegal immigrants

    About 182 illegal immigrants from different African nations have been deported by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Lagos State Command.

    They were picked from different locations in the metropolis following an ongoing raid.

    Command boss, Comptroller Julius Ogbu said a few weeks ago, community leaders from various parts of African nations were told to advise their nationals to go to their countries and obtain all the necessary documents that could qualify them to stay in Nigeria due to security challenges.

    “We had a meeting with heads of the non -Nigerian nationals and advised them on the need to adhere strictly to the ECOWAS protocol which requires that non- Nigerians must come in through the recognized gateways and obtain ECOWAS travel certificate in their countries. By recognized routes, we mean the places where you have Immigration, Customs and all those security agents who are to screen you and ensure that you have good intentions before you come into the country.

    “We have therefore decided to ease out all those nationals who have refused to comply with ECOWAS protocols. The operation is meant to ensure that we control persons who are in Nigeria.  No African national who came into the country illegally is left out. We are not leaving any country out.

    “The Immigration Service have provided some of the logistics used to carry out the repatriation, but the Lagos State Government has been of tremendous assistance. We are not saying they should leave our country because they are our brothers, but what we are saying is that they should go back and come in using their passports or the ECOWAS travel certificate using the recognized routes. We are all ECOWAS nationals, we are brothers, but we are saying that they should do the right thing and come back and live with us.

    He debunked the rumour that the Immigration was sending Nigerian citizens from the North out of Lagos.

    Ogbu said Lagos belongs to all Nigerian and noted that there is no way the Immigration could send citizens from Northern Nigeria out of Lagos.

    “We cannot send Hausa’s out of Lagos. It is not possible for us to send our own out of Lagos. When we make the arrest, we profile them based on our training and send non- Nigerians back to their respective countries.”

    “I want to thank other security agencies who have been assisting us in this operation. The Police, SSS and other security agencies has been helping us in this operation.” He said.

    He told newsmen that 102persons have been sent back while 80 illegal immigrants are waiting to be deported back to their various countries.

  • Edo deports 120 illegal immigrants

    The Edo State Command of the Nigerian Immigrations Service yesterday paraded 120 illegal immigrants, comprising Niger, Chad, Mali, Ghana and Guinea nationals, from across the 18 local government areas.

    Speaking to reporters at the state command headquarters before they were conveyed to Sokoto, Cross Rivers states and Abuja, Controller of Immigration David Akwor said over 450 illegal immigrants were arrested and after screening, 120 were found without valid travel and residence papers.

    Akwor said they will be deported to their home countries, except those from Mali who he said would be sent to the High Commission, United Nation Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) because of the crisis in Mali.

    “In the past, foreigners have been arrested in connection with crime in the state and so with the assistance of the governor, we decided to raid and mop up illegal immigrants.

    “The ECOWAS protocol has a proviso that allows ECOWAS citizens to move freely and enter ECOWAS member-states with valid travel documents and secondly, they have to come in through authorised routes, that is where you have immigration clearance either through the airports, the land frontiers or the seaports where their passports will be stamped and maybe given 90-day stay and of course subject to extension after satisfactory reasons.

    On the fate of the Malians, the immigration boss said: “The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has written to all ECOWAS member-states not to send them back to their country because of the crisis there.

    “So, we are going to send to Abuja to the office of the UNHCR High Commissioner, who will assess them and probably grant them refugee status, pending the cessation of the crisis in that country.”

  • 10 Nigerians die, 20 missing as boat carrying illegal immigrants sink in Gabon

    10 Nigerians die, 20 missing as boat carrying illegal immigrants sink in Gabon

    Ten people drowned and another 20 remain unac counted for after a boat from Nigeria sank off the coast of Gabon, a police official said yesterday.

    The boat had left Nigeria carrying West African clandestine migrants and was within 15 minutes of arriving in Gabon’s capital Libreville when it went down late on Tuesday night. Gabonese authorities rescued 23 people and the search continued into yesterday.

    “Last night, we had six bodies and since this morning we have found four more, which makes a total of 10 recovered bodies,” said a member of the Nautical Brigade of Gabon’s national police who asked not to be named.

    Police said the survivors – from Benin, Nigeria and Burkina Faso-claimed to have each paid the boat’s crew up to 500,000 CFA to take them to Gabon where they hoped to find work.

    Local newspapers reported that the human traffickers attempted to extort more money from the immigrants and had begun throwing those who could not pay overboard.

    Gabonese authorities said they were investigating the cause of the sinking.

    Oil-rich Gabon’s relatively high wages for manual labourers have made the central African nation a popular destination for regional migrants.

    But entrance requirements are strict, pushing many to enter the country illegally, often using the dangerous sea route from Nigeria.

    At least 45 people died when a wooden boat carrying 166 migrants bound for Gabon capsized off Nigeria in March.

    Some 35 people taking the same route died after their boat sank off Cameroon in 2008.

  • Mozambique repatriates eight Nigerians

    Mozambique repatriates eight Nigerians

    …18 other nationals too

    The Mozambican authorities said on Tuesday that 26 illegal immigrants including eight Nigerians were repatriated from the country last weekend.

    Spokesperson for the Maputo city police command, Orlando Modumane, said that 16 of the deportees were found to have entered the country with false visas.

    He said the remaining were prevented from entering the Southern African country because of the lack of information on their destination and their accommodation.

    Modumane added that the group included  Pakistanis, nine Somalis, eight Nigerians and three Bengalis.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that most of the illegal immigrants, who got to the former Portuguese colony, used Mozambique as a corridor to reach South Africa in search for better life.

    Previously, the illegal immigrants crossed the borders on foot with the help of local people or transported by local drivers in exchange for money.

    There have been cases of deaths of the illegal immigrants who were transported in cargo trucks to the Mozambican capital, Maputo.

    Some manage to attain their goals, while others are repatriated to their home countries.

    Those who manage to do so are involved in formal and informal business.

    The authorities accused some of the immigrants of being involved in criminal acts.

    Those who entered Mozambique through the northernmost borders are sent to Maretane refugee centre in the northern province of Nampula.

    They are interrogated, and those who seek for political asylum are checked properly by the ministries of foreign affairs and interior.

    The Mozambican authorities said they are stepping up security at the airports and on the borders to prevent the immigrants from entering the country.