Malawi Police arrest 34 Asian nationals

Police in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, in conjunction with the Immigration Department on Wednesday arrested 34 suspected illegal immigrants of Asian origin in a sweeping exercise.

Southern Region spokesperson Nicholas Gondwa said the exercise was launched on December 23 2012.

He said in the exercise, the police are targeting suspected criminals, vagabonds and people in possession of goods suspected to have been stolen while the Immigration Department is targeting illegal immigrants.

“Police and the Immigration Department decided to conduct the exercise during the festive season to maintain security.

“Today [January 2], 34 Indian and Pakistani nationals have been arrested. Seventeen of them are at Blantyre Police Station whereas the others are at Limbe Police Station,” said Gondwa.

Between September and December 2012, about 123 reported immigrants have been arrested for illegal entry and squatting.