All Asian
people have been banned from entering Swaziland after the kingdom’s Parliament
suspended issuing entry permits.
A
committee has been formed to look at ‘loopholes’ in the immigration system,
according to a report in the Swazi
Observer newspaper.
The Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by
King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported
Parliament instructed Home Affairs Minister Princess Tsandzile ‘to ensure that
no Asian entered the country’.
It
reported, ‘This was after MP [Marwick] Khumalo moved a successful motion
calling for the election of a powerful 10-member committee to look into the
loopholes of the country’s immigration system causing the influx of illegal
immigrants, the majority being of Asian origin.’
The
newspaper reported the committee would also investigate ‘the residential status’
of Asians already living in the kingdom.
Khumalo who
made the motion was reported saying that most Asians in Swaziland, ‘were
trafficked into the country by their fellow countrymen who kept them as slaves
to work in their shops and factories in return for a meal’.
Commerce
Minister Gideon Dlamini tried unsuccessfully to make an amendment on the
motion. He was reported saying that Asians, ‘were a mix of both criminals and
genuine investors and those who came into the country with good intent should
not suffer for the sins of others’.
Lobamba
MP Michael Masilela reportedly said small towns like Buhleni, Pigg’s Peak and
Siteki had already ‘been taken over by the Asians’.
Home
Affairs Minister Princess Tsandzile said she welcomed the motion.
The
committee is expected to bring a report within 30 days.
See also
MORE RACISM IN SWAZI PRESS
XENOPHOBIA
IN THE SWAZI PRESS
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