RGM Airport ‘Now A Human Trafficking Hub’

“A lot of things happen here at the airport. It all depends on the money on offer,” an immigration official at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport said.

In October 2021, Roselyn Dunga, a 31-year-old woman working as a security screener at the RGM International Airport stole a bag containing US$2 million from an unknown passenger, who boarded an Emirates flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Dunga told police the bag belonged to a man of Pakistani origin, and that the total amount being smuggled out was US$10 million, with each bag containing US$2million.

“As you’re aware workers are not being paid on time. What then do you do if you find a gap to make money?

“You are forced to dance to the tune playing at a particular time,” the airport source said.

In 2014, two immigration officers and a security officer at RGM International Airport appeared in court facing human trafficking and criminal abuse of duty charges after they connived to allow Muhammad Aslam, a Pakistani national, to slip into the country without a visa.

They were charged for contravening Section 3 of the Presidential Powers (Temporary) Measures under the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Act or alternatively criminal abuse of duty as a public officer under Section 174 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The cases are said to be a tip of the icebery. Security sources said human trafficking syndicates were using the Robert Gabriel Mugabe (RGM) International Airport as a hub, bringing people from mostly African countries that would ordinarily need a visa to enter Zimbabwe such as Eretria, Somalia and Ethiopia.

The immigrants whose passports are never stamped on arrival at the airport are then moved to safe houses around Harare before they are transported to Beitbridge where corrupt officials facilitate their illegal entry into South Africa.

Investigations by The Standard revealed that police, immigration officers, Central Intelligence Organisation officers and soldiers who man the airport are involved in the human trafficking, which police have since described as a security threat.

“They work with syndicates who will be having links and would have paid bribes beforehand to avoid having challenges at the airport.

“When you see them being smuggled into thecountry you won’t even suspect it,” the source said.

“Everything would have been properly planned to pass easily.

“What happens is that a passenger name list (PNL) is sent to Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), immigration, border control, and state security.

“All those are interested parties who do that. They won’t check visas, but just names.

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