Seven Kenyans employed in South Africa through a US programme have been arrested for lacking proper documentation and now face deportation.
According to South African authorities, the Kenyan nationals were arrested for allegedly working at the centre despite having entered the country on tourist visas.
The arrests were made after the Department of Home Affairs, in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, conducted a routine operation in Johannesburg targeting suspected violations of South African immigration law.
According to South Africa News, the operation followed intelligence reports indicating that several Kenyan nationals had recently entered South Africa on tourist visas and illegally taken up work at a centre processing applications for refugee status in the United States.
''This was even though earlier visa applications for Kenyan nationals to perform this work had been lawfully declined by the department. They were arrested and issued with deportation orders and will be prohibited from entering South Africa again for five years,'' the department said.
The raid came after "intelligence reports indicated that several Kenyan nationals had recently entered South Africa on tourist visas and had illegally taken up work at a centre processing the applications of so-called 'refugees' to the United States," it said.
Sources in the nation privy to the developments confirmed that they were arrested following the nation's Home Affairs' intensification of deportations of aliens living in the country.
The crackdown, which is now 18 months old, seeks to turn around South Africa's longstanding abuse of the immigration and visa system.
However, it was not immediately clear whether the targeting was specifically on the U.S.-sponsored programs due to the recent frosty relations between the two nations.
Additionally, at the time of publishing the story, the Kenyan government had yet to issue an official update on the developments. However, authorities in South Africa confirmed that they had formally notified their Kenyan counterparts.
Meanwhile, the department said no US officials were arrested in the process; the operation was not conducted at a diplomatic site, and no members of the public or prospective “refugees” were harassed.
“The presence of foreign officials apparently coordinating with undocumented workers naturally raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has initiated formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to resolve this matter,” the department said.
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