Chinese nationals top the list of foreign nationals Nepal has deported in the first five months of the current fiscal year for flouting the country’s immigration rules and for involvement in illegal activities during their stay here.

According to the Department of Immigration, the country sent back 84 nationals from a total of 34 countries until January 9.

Ram Chandra Tiwari, director of the department, said the foreigners were deported after they were found to be involved in illegal activities. “In most cases, they were involved in illegal activities. Sometimes, they also stayed without renewing their visa,” Tiwari told the Post.

The maximum number of deportations has been of Chinese nationals as the department extradited 14 Chinese for having entered the country illegally or doing illegal activities here.

Of the total Chinese sent back, four had entered the country without passport, three had overstayed, and three others were found to be involved in gold smuggling, according to the Immigration statistics. Other Chinese were deported for their involvement in running illegal businesses and hundi operations, and engaging in wildlife parts smuggling and cases of fraud.

“We launch an investigation after finding their involvement in illegal activities. We also allow them to defend themselves. Once the charge is proven, they are deported,” Tiwari added.

Bangladesh was the second country in terms of the number of nationals expatriated from Nepal. A total of 13 Bangladeshis were asked to leave the country in the five months.

The department sent back nine Bangladeshi citizens who had entered the country without passports. “They had entered Nepal via India and carried no passports, so we sent them back,” Tiwari said.

Bangladeshi citizens were also found to be involved in kidnapping, producing fake travel documents, overstaying, and foreign employment related fraud, according to the department.

In the same period, Nepali immigration officials sent back nine Iranian citizens—eight had entered the country with fake passports and one had overstayed.

Four each from Uzbekistan, Moldova and Pakistan were others sent out. All four Uzbekistanis had issues with their visa. Three had fake visas and another had a suspicious visa permit.

In the same period, immigration officials deported three Yemeni nationals, followed by India (2), Cameroon (2), USA (2), Bulgaria (2), France (2), and Russia (2).

In most cases of deportation, overstaying, fake travel documents including visa and passport, illegal activities, banking fraud, and drug abuse are the major offences.

“After being found guilty, they are penalised and banned from entering Nepal for a certain period of time depending on their offence,” Tiwari added.

Extraditions

Countries        Number of  citizens deported     

China             14

Bangladesh    13

Iran                 9

Pakistan          4

Uzbekistan      4

Source: Department of Immigration