Over 30 suspected illegal immigrants netted in Lira

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Uganda’s Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC) enforcement team has arrested 31 suspected illegal immigrants in Lira City.

They were apprehended in an operation carried out on Wednesday, April 16, according to a DCIC statement shared on the social media platform X.

“This group includes 11 Pakistanis, 3 Egyptians, 6 Indians, and 11 Somalis, all of whom are being processed for prosecution,” it said.

In addition, the DCIC inspection team held a sensitisation session on immigration facilities at two companies in Mubende district, namely Baili Yountongo Company and Muliro Agro Investments.

The Auditor General’s latest report has indicated that a total of 5,048 foreign nationals did not leave the country in the last three years following the expiry of their work permits.

“The continued stay of foreign nationals with expired or cancelled permits has resulted in illegal employment of foreign nationals and loss of revenue,” Edward Akol’s report to Parliament for the audit year ended December 31, 2024, said.

He noted that whereas 102 foreign nationals were fined for overstaying their work permits in the period from July 2019 to June 2023, their respective employers were not fined for knowingly employing them without valid entry permits.

As a result, Akol stated, fines estimated at sh306m were not collected, resulting in a loss of revenue to the Government.

He also reported that in the last two financial years, there has been a notable increase in the number of work permits issued by the DCIC from 11,229 in the financial year 2020/21 to 14,185 in that of 2021/22, which is an increase of 26% in a period of one year.

“Despite this, there was no evidence of a corresponding increase in resources for the monitoring of expatriates,” Akol said.

A work permit is a legal document issued to foreigners who seek to invest, carry on business, work and reside in the host country.

Worldwide, countries regulate foreign workers through the issuance of work permits to control the entry, stay and exit of foreign workers.

“If unregulated, migrant labour creates competition for the local workforce for the few available jobs,” the Auditor General stated.

He also noted that the DCIC still faces some challenges while using the e-Immigration system, including limited coverage of the system, absence of key roles, failure to provide real-time notifications on over-stayers, delays in migrating legacy data, and limited reporting capabilities.

“Without implementing the system’s full functionality, DCIC may not realise value for money from the investment in the system over its lifetime,” he warned.