BMA raises concerns over illegal movement of children across borders

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has raised concern over the illegal movement of children across borders.

This follows the arrest of a taxi driver on Monday at Beitbridge Border Post in Limpopo after six children were found travelling in a taxi without documentation or parents.

Authorities classify this as human smuggling.

It says the children have been handed over to the Department of Social Development and will be reunited with their families in Zimbabwe.

BMA Commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato, “These are the children of parents who are inside South Africa who then just call a taxi driver to say, bring my child over and all of those kinds of issues. So, that is basically the explanation. However, we do not take that explanation because it is illegal to move children in between countries without documentation. So, it falls within the category of human smuggling. It’s not trafficking per se, because the children are not under stress per se, but you can see that the person has just been asked to bring the children over. And on that basis, we had to get him arrested.”

Meanwhile, the BMA is processing thousands of travelers across all major ports of entry, with delays leading to frustrations: