Responding to questions regarding the repatriation of foreign national inmates to their countries of origin, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, Kgomotso Ramolobeng, stated that foreign nationals granted parole following approval by the National Council for Correctional Services (NCCS) and the Minister will remain in correctional facilities until the Department of Home Affairs has finalised the deportation process.
“So, the Memorandum of Agreement between our country and Botswana, as much as is in place, it can be effective; we cannot release any Botswana foreign nationals back to their country because this act currently prohibits that. So, when we are doing it, we will be doing it illegally,” she said.
Ramolobeng added that it costs about 11 billion annually to house the 27,906 foreign nationals.
“As the seventh administration, we stated that foreign nationals in our correctional facilities contribute a lot in terms of the fiscals and the budget, and already the department has budgetary constraints, and this contributes around 11 billion annually to house the 27,906 foreign nationals.”
Photo: screenshot
