South African authorities have intercepted more than 400 unaccompanied children on its border with Zimbabwe. The minors were allegedly being trafficked in dozens of buses.
“We found about 443 children under the age of eight that were in those buses without any parent or guardian. Fairly, they were being trafficked into South Africa,’’ head of South African Border Management Authority (BMA) Micheal Masiapato said.
“We were able to take them out of those buses. We were then able to engage with the Zimbabwean officials, and we handed them back to Zimbabwe for processing,” he told a press conference on Sunday.
40 buses stopped
The interception was a result of a joint operation involving the South African Border Management Authority (BMA), Home Affairs and the South African Police Service.
The security personnel stopped more than 40 buses travelling into South Africa through the Beitbridge Border Post with the children, the border agency said.
The South African authorities have not revealed the identities of those driving the minors in the buses or whether they had been arrested.
The Zimbabwean authorities have not yet commented on the development.
Recent successes
The South African authorities said the interception was part of their efforts in tackling illegal entry into the country.
According to the border agency, ''in a space of time,'' 44 000 individuals have been prevented from ''illegally'' entering South Africa while 100 452 individuals who had overstayed in the country have been banned from re-entering for the next five years.
Another 98,150 individuals were refused entry into the country for various reasons, said Masiapato outlining the successes of the agency.
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