Five Chinese nationals nabbed

Five Chinese nationals nabbed THE Immigration Department has apprehended five Chinese nationals for failing to comply with conditions of their employment permits. Immigration department public relations officer, Namati Nshinka, said the five Chinese nationals were apprehended at United Quarries Limited in Lusaka. Mr Nshinka said the operation was carried out after a tip from an anonymous report that a female Chinese was working as a cashier, a position reserved for Zambia citizens. He said a Tu Renhua aged 53, whose employment permit was issued under United Quarries Company Limited as a Quarries Management Specialist, was found working as a cashier at the company. Mr Nshinka said Ms Renhua was eventually apprehended after initially refusing to emerge from a locked cage-like room which seemed to have been intentionally modified to conceal occupants. He said the five other Chinese nationals were also apprehended during the operation after it was discovered that they too were in abrogation of conditions of their employment permits. “Pu Hong 52, Ai Hui 50, Wu Chunsheng 53, and Tu Chunhua 50 were apprehended for working at United Quarries Limited when their employment permits were issued under Datong Construction Limited,” he said. Similarly, he said, Yu Kang aged 60 was also apprehended for working at United Quarries Limited while holding an employment permit issued under Codeco Zambia Limited in Luanshya. Mr Nshinka said the number of persons apprehended for immigration-related offences within two days were 42. Meanwhile, Mr Nshinka said the Kaoma Immigration Office on Wednesday secured the conviction of a 26-year-old male Tanzanian Jummane Tengi for unlawful presence in Zambia. He said the suspect was apprehended on August 27, 2021 following a tip-off from members of the community who suspected him to be an illegal immigrant. He was formally arrested on August 30, this year after it was established he was a non-Zambian and had been staying in the county unlawfully between 2018 and 27th August, 2021. Mr Nshinka said the suspect was fined K 60,000 or in default three months simple imprisonment. He said that during the same period, the Department removed 33 illegal immigrants from the country. He advised employers to ensure that expatriates under their companies do not depart in any way from the terms and conditions of the permits issued by the Department because it was illegal.