Taxi drivers operating on the Luanda-Mercado route for Luvo, in Zaire province, are being accused of facilitating illegal immigration to the country’s capital, by transporting people to Luanda in exchange for 300 thousand kwanzas (about 326 dollars) per one .
The Angolan Taxi Drivers Association and jurors disagree about the class’s possible involvement in illegal immigration into the country.
The president of the Angolan Taxi Drivers Association says the root of the problem lies in the devaluation of the profession and calls for the activity to be regularized.
“The Government continues to look seriously at the process of formalizing taxi activity, which should define, for example, who the taxi driver really is, according to the law”, says Francisco Paciente , adding “this process no. an individual, with some maintenance needs, tends against a vehicle pretending to be a taxi driver”.
“And if he finds other opportunities while he is engaged in this activity, to smuggle immigrants or to facilitate immigrants, according to the reality of the area where he works, he ends up transferring indirectly to another activity even if it’s illegal”, indicates that it is associative. leader.
On the other hand, Othar asks the authorities to reinforce supervision in order to hold accountable citizens who infiltrate the taxi driving profession.
“In any case, the Government is competent to take appropriate action against anyone who violates the rules while carrying out one or another activity,” concludes the president of the Angolan Taxi Drivers Association.
For the lawyer Agostinho Canando, the situation is alarming, both for taxi drivers and for the country.
“The behavior of these taxi drivers is in no way understandable and it is no coincidence that the law classifies it as a crime because they often clearly facilitate what is illegal immigration and in this way they pack the Republic of Angola, I would say . with foreigners without proper legality”, says Canando.
Lawyer Manuel Cangundo also warns of the major legal implications that await those involved in facilitating possible crimes related to illegal immigration.
“It is a criminal activity that is predictable and punishable in the criminal law system, which deserves to be discouraged, because, as we know, crime does not pay. Because this behavior may have benefits, so to speak, in the personal life of the citizens who practice it, subjectively, but then it can mean harm from an objective point of view, because it also has consequences from the economic point of view whole country.” , it shows.