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Zambia’s Department of Immigration has detained 165 suspected illegal immigrants following a clean-up operation conducted on January 29, 2026, in various parts of Lusaka, with support from other defence and security agencies.
A total of 182 people were initially apprehended during the operation, according to a statement issued in Lusaka on Friday by the Department’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Namati Nshinka.
He said that after screening, 15 individuals—most of them Zambian nationals—were released unconditionally.
Nshinka added that two suspects, a Turkish national and a Syrian national, were handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Centre for further investigations.
“The remaining 165 persons were detained pending further screening and possible prosecution,” he said.
According to Nshinka, those detained include 106 Burundians, 22 Congolese, 14 individuals whose nationalities were yet to be established, 10 Rwandans, three Chinese nationals and three Tanzanians.
Others are two Egyptians, two Indians, one Malawian, one Somali and one Zimbabwean national.
Read More: Immigration Department records 44 convictions, 28 arrests in nationwide operations
In a related joint operation conducted in the early hours of January 28, 2026, in Ndola’s Twapya and Ndeke townships, the Ndola Regional Immigration Office detained 22 suspected illegal immigrants pending further immigration formalities and possible prosecution.
“These include 13 refugees of Somali origin who were found outside designated refugee settlements without authority, eight (8) Tanzanian nationals, and one (1) Kenyan national,” Nshinka said.
During the Ndola operation, 164 people were initially apprehended, of whom 142 were either released unconditionally or instructed to report to the Ndola Regional Immigration Office for verification of their immigration status.
Nshinka acknowledged and commended the invaluable support rendered by the participating defence and security agencies in both operations, noting that their cooperation and professionalism were critical to the successful execution of the operations.
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