The Bangladeshis, all males, were intercepted after BMA officials discovered that they were in possession of fraudulent visas.
South Africa is to deport 16 Bangladeshi nationals who arrived in the country on Friday with fake visas, officials said.
The Bangladeshis had arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
The Acting Commissioner of BMA, Jane Thupana, confirmed that this was part of the authority’s intensified efforts to combat human trafficking, irregular migration and transnational organised crime, particularly during the festive season peak.
Their interception followed the BMA’s analysis of passenger details, which flagged their movement pattern as suspicious.
Preliminary investigations revealed a modus operandi commonly used in human trafficking syndicates, where individuals attempt to transit through South Africa enroute to neighbouring countries and later re-enter South Africa.
The Bangladeshis, all males, were intercepted after BMA officials discovered that they were in possession of fraudulent visas.
They were identified after officers noticed them blending suspiciously among South African travellers in the passport clearance area.
Through profiling, the individuals were separated from the queue and referred to the BMA Border Law Enforcement Office for secondary investigation. Their documentation was confirmed to be fraudulent, and their intentions were inconsistent with legitimate travel, raising concerns of possible human trafficking activity.
Commending the officers involved for their vigilance, technical capability and swift action, Thupana said it emphasised that these interceptions demonstrate the effectiveness of the BMA’s intelligence-led approach to border management.
Thupana said the BMA was using advanced passenger data, behavioural profiling and on-the-ground enforcement as central tools to prevent South Africa from being exploited as a corridor for criminal networks.
“The authority will continue to work with national and international partners to ensure that South Africa’s ports of entry are secure and that all attempts to undermine national security are decisively countered,” she said.
Thupana also said that the airline which brought in the illegal migrants would be fined R15,000 for each of them, as it was expected to check the authenticity of their travel documents before allowing them to board the flight. The airline would also be held liable for the costs of repatriating the Bangladeshi nationals.
There has long been concern in South Africa that subcontinental migrants from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, as well as some African countries, especially Somalia and Ethiopia, were entering the country illegally, often through collaboration of local agents working with Department of Home Affairs officials to secure fraudulent documents, including South African passports.
The department had also expressed concern about South Africa being used as a transit point for access into third countries by those illegally seeking refugee status.
There are believed to be over 350,000 Bangladesh-origin residents in South Africa, most having sought political asylum here after Bangladesh established ties with South Africa following the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994. Before that, Bangladesh, like India, had prohibited its citizens from visiting South Africa because of apartheid-era minority white rule.
