A Bangladeshi national was nabbed at OR Tambo International Airport trying to leave the country with a fraudulent SA passport
In an ongoing clampdown on the use of fraudulent SA documents, a Bangladeshi national was arrested trying to leave the country on Wednesday night via the OR Tambo International Airport with a fraudulent SA passport.
“We have traced where this passport was issued and which corrupt Home Affairs official issued it. The corrupt official who issued it is one of those who are on the radar of the Department’s Counter Corruption Branch, hence another arrest is imminent,” said Minister Motsoaledi.
Upon further investigation, Home Affairs uncovered that this Bangladeshi national had applied for asylum in December 2015 and his application was rejected because he is definitely not in need of asylum. He has been appealing through the elaborate appeals system in SA ever since.
Another important fact to note is that he was found in possesion of a travel permit purportedly issued by the “Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh” as recently as 26 April 2022. The significance of this is that an asylum seeker cannot have any document issued by the country of origin because they are supposed to have ran away from there.
The Department of Home Affairs is extremely concerned about the abuse of the asylum system of our country.
“We will not tire or be dissuaded from fighting to eliminate corruption in all areas of Home Affairs, whether perpetrated by a foreign national or a South African. We will continue arresting all of them,” said Minister Motsoaledi.
Source: Government of South Africa