Ntsebeng Motsoeli
MASERU — Lesotho is experiencing an unprecedented surge in the number of people seeking to acquire the country’s citizenship, Deputy Prime Minister Lesao Lehohla has said.
Speaking in an interview with the Sunday Express on Friday Lehohla said Lesotho citizenship was highly on demand.
His comments came four days after Lesotho granted citizenship to 48 foreigners from various African and Asian countries on Monday.
“We have more than 3 000 pending applications. Lesotho citizenship is on demand since globalisation with Chinese and other nations coming into the country,” said Lehohla who doubles as home affairs minister.
This had forced the government to hike citizenship application fees six-fold, from M5 000 to M30 000.
The increase would ensure that “only genuine” people applied, Lehohla said.
“We are now developing tools that will identify illegal immigrants. Every legal citizen should be registered in a national register,” he said.
Critics however say the application fee increase could backfire as it could encourage those who can’t afford to become illegal immigrants, but Lehohla said screws were being put in place to curb the practice.
“We need to raise the bar. We believe that people who would be willing to pay that much are those who are truly interested in being our citizens; people who can help develop the country and those with special expertise,” Lehohla said.
“Giving citizenship is a very difficult job. It is a sensitive matter that needs careful treatment,” he said.
He said previously Lesotho, because of its small size, did not attract much attention from foreigners.
But that situation has since changed as more people, particularly the Chinese, began to take notice of the Mountain Kingdom.
Lehohla said there are currently no statistics on the number of illegal immigrants in the country.
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