Angola to step up border control against illegal immigration

Angolan police will have a greater control of national borders to combat cross-border crimes, particularly illegal immigration from neighboring countries, a senior police officer said Monday.

The Angolan government has been enhancing the organs of the ministry of interior, in particular the border police, with human, technical and material resources to fight against cross-border crimes, said Jose Mingas, Director of the Office of Studies, Information and Analysis of the Angolan national police.

The police officer said illegal immigrants were trying to enter Angola both from land and maritime borders.

The maritime border, especially in the northern province of Cabinda, the mouth of the Zaire River, became the sector that most concerned the Angolan police, and illegal immigrants from neighboring countries use small boats to try to reach the country.

Angola police rounded up and expelled thousands of illegal immigrants each year, mostly from neighboring countries who flock to Angola for better job opportunities in its lucrative retail business and post-war reconstruction process.

Angolan authorities blamed the wave of illegal immigration as a silent invasion which posed a threat to the stability of local societies and fuelled the rising crime rates in the country. Endi