44 rescued immigrants taken in for processing in Sandton
The 44 males aged between 15 and 22 are alleged to have been trafficked and held in a house against their will.
The forty-four illegal immigrants, who were found locked in one of the houses in Parkmore, Sandton, have been taken to the local police station to be processed by the Department of Home Affairs.
According to police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo, the circumstances around their arrival in South Africa, and ending up being locked inside the house, are unclear, but investigations are underway. “It is reported that private security officers who were conducting routine patrols in the area received a complaint about people who were screaming and making noise at one of the houses in Parkmore.
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“The complaint was then escalated to the local police station and police proceeded to the scene. At the scene, police discovered forty-four males who were locked at the backrooms of the main house.”
He added that the preliminary investigation revealed that all males, aged between 15 and 22, were Ethiopian nationals, brought illegally into the country. “It is alleged that they were kept against their will in the house. The possibility that these individuals were trafficked into the country cannot be ruled out. It forms part of the investigation.”
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