Cape Town — The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has has cancelled the visa of the 95 Libyan nationals who were arrested following a police riad on a suspected military training base.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, revealed the Libyans had obtained the visa irregularly through misrepresentation in Tunis, Tunisisa. He said the department has already cancelled the visas and is now working with law enforcement authorities to look at all options, including departation, he said in a statement.
“The visa cancellation means that all the affected Libyans are now undocumented foreign nationals,” he said.
Schreiber praised all departments for their work and encouraged the Department to support law enforcement to support the multi-disciplinary effort.
“One operation at a time, we must restore the rule of law. Following a major joint operation by Home Affairs, the SA Police Service and other law enforcement authorities, the department is on the ground ensuring that anyone who breached immigration laws is processed through the court. Respect our laws, or there will be consequences,” he warned.
[Statement] Minister of Home Affairs commends the multi-disciplinary law enforcement team that
nabbed the 95 Libyans in White River, Mpumalanga @GCISMedia pic.twitter.com/kg53cb9l9Z— HomeAffairsSA 🇿🇦 (@HomeAffairsSA) July 27, 2024
According to EWN, police found drugs and other contraband, in addition to the military equipment, during the raid on Friday.
“We also found dagga and cocaine. Some of the other drugs found in their possession are being sent to the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory,” said police Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe.
Many community members have also expressed their concern and shock over the incident. One community leader said the area had experienced an increase in crimes such as rape, shootings and theft.
“There were so many complaints about this people because since their arrival, we saw a large number of incidents such as crime like rape, shootings, these are the types of incidents we were experiencing in the community,” one community leader told Newzroom Afrika.
Another member told Newzroom Afrika that he was surprised to hear of the arrest and said he thought the farm was just a shooting range.
“I only know that its a shooting range, but to this I don’t understand,” he said.
“I was shocked [when asked about the news]. Indeed we are not safe, because we don’t know how many activities happened there. We are still waiting for the police to find out what’s going on, maybe a lot of things happened there and have been hidden there and we don’t know what’s going on,” he said,
He said it was a problem that the militants were found from Libya, and not a neighbouring country, which was a problem.
Community leaders near the farm where an illegal military camp was set up in White River, Mpumalanga, say the area had recently experienced a spike in crimes such as rape, shootings and robberies, which raised suspicion.
Watch: https://t.co/jjEcQBVXmo pic.twitter.com/OeOohif1wp
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 27, 2024
Community members in White River say they were shocked by the news of a military base that was bust by the police on Friday, leading to the arrest of 95 Libyan nationals. They say they thought the farm was just a shooting range.
Watch: https://t.co/oJbRFShc7M pic.twitter.com/MqcykEqIpG
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 27, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
