Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Sierra Leone Immigration Department, Kadie Sesay has disclosed that 99% of Sierra Leoneans in Germany do not have any form of identification.
She intimated that this was unearthed during a two-week intensive verification program which was recently conducted in Germany by the Sierra Leone Immigration Department, to “verify and regularize” the status of Sierra Leonean immigrants within the German jurisdiction.
Kadie Sesay informed media practitioners at the Department’s Conference Hall that out of two hundred eighty-nine (289) that were assembled for interview, “one hundred and fifty-two (152) showed up but only one hundred (100) were confirmed as Sierra Leoneans.”
The Deputy Chief Immigration Officer, Anthony Aruna pointed out that the remaining fifty-two (52) could not be identified as Sierra Leoneans.
He denied allegations that the trip was intended to expunge illegal immigrants from Germany, noting that the status of immigrants in Germany would only be determined by the German Immigration Act.
Chief Immigration Officer (CIO), Alpha Koroma disclosed that the verification exercise was going to help a good number of them.
He explained that Emergency Travelers’ Certificate (ETC’s) were sold to those who were identified as Sierra Leoneans and do not have valid documents at Le 65,000.
The CIO noted that most Sierra Leoneans in Germany are living in squalor; all in the name of seeking greener pastures.
He noted that the trip was timely and important, as he used the opportunity to look into allegations that Sierra Leonean passports are in the hands of non Sierra Leoneans. He then informed the gathering that a Sierra Leonean passport was impounded from a Nigerian Lady, Joy Momoh, in Germany and the matter is under investigation.
By Ophaniel Gooding