By ‘Majirata Latela
The ministry of home affairs this week announced another move to curb human trafficking by enforcing a three-month suspension of the acquisition of Lesotho citizenship and introduction of new requirements for visa application.
After the country was upgraded to Tier Two in the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report in the past two months for taking concrete measures to eliminate trafficking, the ministry continues to make strides to stop human traffickers from accessing the country without proper background checks.
The minister of home affairs, Motlalentoa Letsosa said it has come to the attention of the ministry that non-Basotho apply for and acquire citizenship to use Lesotho as a gateway to other countries. After acquiring Lesotho citizenship with the help of corrupt government officers, immigrants use Lesotho passports to get access to other countries.
“We suspect that there are people who use the country as a gateway to other countries, hence our move to suspend citizenship acquisition for three months while we continue with the investigations to identify loopholes.
“During these three months, we will look into records of people who were granted citizenship and trace where they live today. This will give us a clear picture of what we need to do because we have real doubts that some of these people no longer live in the country.
“We have also suspended the indefinite permit because we have noted similar challenges to people who have acquired citizenship. We are going to follow up on the reasons why people got indefinite permits to find out if the reasons they stipulated in their applications still apply,” Letsosa said.
He added that the ministry is also battling with the ‘joining a relative permit’ which people acquire only to use for different purposes. He said such people set up businesses illegally and later apply for ‘indefinite permits’, allowing them to stay in the country for as long as they wish.
He said during a random inspection of holders of work permits the ministry uncovered foreigners who had taken up employment in Lesotho contrary to the law.
The minister said some immigrants visited the country as tourists but later apply for extension of their stay and start looking for business opportunities.
Letsosa said the ministry is determined to halt such extensions of touring visitors when they change their intentions for continued stay. He explained that such tourists need to go back to their countries of origin and return to apply for another stay.
On visa requirements, Letsosa explained that there no major changes for foreigners who require them.
He observed that Lesotho is not strict on demanding that visiting foreigners produce return tickets upon entry, and that visitors should be in possession of return tickets upon entering the country. This, he said, would make it easier for the country to order them to return to their origins if found flouting the law.
“This would free the country from the burden of unnecessary expenses of deporting illegal immigrants.
“Also, people who come here for business purposes, should have a bank-guaranteed statement proving that they have enough funds in the bank to pay for their own return tickets should they be ordered to return to their countries.
“People need to go back to their countries of origin at their own expenses not ours. We emphasize the issue of having a return ticket or enough money to, buy one’s own ticket. Also, we require the person to have medical insurance so that if they fall sick at the airport on arrival or upon departure the government does not have to incur any costs,” Letsosa urged.
