In an anti-trafficking operation, authorities in South Africa seized dozens of buses carrying over 400 unaccompanied children, according to reports.
According to border officials in South Africa, 443 children under the age of eight were discovered leaving Zimbabwe without the presence of their parents or legal guardians.
The officials claimed that the kids were being “trafficked” into South Africa.
On Saturday evening, police stopped and searched the 42 buses that were coming through the Zimbabwean side of the Beitbridge border post. Following their search, the buses were sent back to Zimbabwe.
According to Mike Masiapato, commissioner of South Africa’s Border Management Agency, “we denied them entry and activated the Zimbabwean officials to process them back into Zimbabwe.”
An organization that advocates for foreign nationals residing in South Africa, however, has offered an additional theory regarding how they might have entered Zimbabwe.
The Africa Diaspora Forum stated that it thought the kids were being sent to see their South African-employed parents.
According to Ngqabutho Mabhena, the organization’s chairman, children are frequently sent across the border without the required paperwork, especially around the end of the year.
According to Mr. Mabhena, “We always advise parents from Zimbabwe who are living in South Africa that in order for their children to travel to South Africa, they must arrange for all required documentation.
“It is irresponsible for parents to let children travel without passports and to travel with strangers. We have addressed this with parents.”
South Africa has the most developed economy in Africa, and over a million Zimbabweans reside there, many of them unofficially.
Over the past 15 years, many have left Zimbabwe to avoid the country’s economic unrest.
In an effort to crack down on illegal immigration, South Africa established a new border force in October.