South Africa has suspended dozens of immigration officials being investigated for giving South African birth certificates to foreigners, mainly from Pakistan, the government said on Thursday. “The fraudulent registration of births of foreigners constitutes a serious threat to the national security of our country,” Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in a statement. She said the scheme allowed “fraudsters” to apply for South African passports that could be used for “nefarious activities abroad.” The move comes months after Britain started requiring visas from South Africans, charging that would-be terrorists and criminals were exploiting the availability of stolen or forged South African passports to gain access to other countries. South Africa said nearly a year ago that steps had been taken to prevent corrupt officials from issuing bogus passports.
Source: New York Times
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