[imagesource: Instagram/ @ieva_andrejevaite]

A Lithuanian actress has been deported from South Africa, after masquerading as an asylum-seeker in order to enter the country without a visa.

Russian-born Ieva Andrejevaite touched down in Cape Town in a private jet on April 28, according to The Citizen.

She purportedly accounted for her lack of documentation by claiming to be seeking refuge from the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

Here’s Siya Qoza, a spokesperson from SA Home Affairs:

“[Andrejevaite] lied to immigration officials [after being refused entry], making up a story of wanting to apply for asylum. As a result of our asylum seeker laws, immigration officials’ hands were tied and they were required to let her into the country so that she could apply for asylum within five days.”

But, as IOL recounts, the London-based 34-year-old never applied within the prescribed period.

As such, under the South African Immigration Act, Andrejevaite was reclassified as an illegal foreigner.

Making matters much worse, she was captured on film attending a party in Cape Town, and these photographs were circulated on various social media platforms.

Talk about being caught in the act.

 

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A post shared by Ieva Andrejevaite (@ieva_andrejevaite)

SABC News details how Andrejevaite attempted to stonewall her banishment by filing an urgent application at the Western Cape High Court, before realising that she might be charged with a criminal offence for lying to immigration officials.

The iniquity of Andrejevaite’s ruse runs deep, as it has since emerged that she entered South Africa in order to attend a number of birthday celebrations that were being thrown by billionaire Rob Hersov; and that the private plane on which she travelled belonged to Russian oligarch Len Blavatnik, as noted by News 24.

On June 2, the High Court ordered Andrejevaite to issue a public apology, which went as follows:

“I was looking forward to entering South Africa and enjoying my time here, and as such, I was wrongly advised to allege that I was an asylum seeker and applied for an asylum transit Visa. This was clearly wrong and an unlawful way for me to try and enter South Africa. In doing so, I realise that I have caused great stress and have insulted this country, the Department of Home Affairs and its officials.”

According to the Department of Home Affairs, Andrejevaite was processed for deportation on June 5.

She has been prohibited from re-entering the country for five years further.

[sources:citizen&news24&sabcnews]