04 Nov 2013

Botswana is continuing to face an influx of illegal immigrants, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has said.

In his State-of-the-Nation Address, President Khama stated that a total of 31 461 were repatriated between October 2012 and May 2013.

“Following the introduction of the Point Based System to assess applicants for work and residence permits, the assessment criteria have now been standardised for all the Regional Immigrants Selection Boards. This has improved transparency as the applicants know the attributes that they will be assessed on. The system will be reviewed to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness.

The automation of systems for the processing of visa and citizenship applications is complete. Inspections will continue to be carried out to ensure that businesses comply with labour laws,” he said.

President Khama said Phase one of the roll out of the Border Control System was complete. He noted that since the cascading of Passport and Border Control to Regional and District Offices the turnaround time for issuing passports has been reduced to three days.

He said all citizens must possess valid Omang cards to authenticate their identity, adding that only those with such cards will be eligible to register and vote in 2014. “It is, therefore of concern that, as of the end of September 2013, there were some 41 800 uncollected Omang cards across the country.

According to the National Register nationally there are 181 000 identity cards that have already expired by end of September 2013. 

A total of 37 000 will expire in the period between October 2013 and December 2013, while 73 000 are to expire by 2014. I therefore appeal to all those with expired cards to ensure that they are renewed in time” he said.Ends