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Plan to deport more than 8,000 visa overstayers
Nnearly 8,000 foreigners are overstaying their visas, and the Home Affairs Ministry will seek Cabinet approval shortly to obtain funds and make logistical arrangements to deport them, a senior official said.
The Immigration and Emigration Department’s Controller General, Pasan Ratnayaka, told the Sunday Times that after the April 21 attacks the Department’s Intelligence unit had tracked down 7,900 foreigners who had been overstaying their visas.
He said the majority had come on tourist visas, but were now working at construction sites, in restaurants, in the farming sector and engaging in business. Most of them were from Asian countries.
Those overstaying visas were mainly from India (1,680), Pakistan (936), China (683), the Maldives (291), Bangladesh (152) and Japan 42.
Others came from the Netherlands (541), Ukraine (167), Saudi Arabia (172), Russia (157) Lebanon (157), Australia (155), Nigeria (130), France (110) and Britain (44).
The Controller General said that after Cabinet approval was sought those overstaying visas would be brought into one location in Colombo and kept there until deportation.
Meanwhile, after the April 21 bombings, the department had been able to reject visas based on warning reports from the Interpol, Mr. Ratnayake said.
He said the department now had direct access to Interpol information. Earlier, it had obtained information from the local branch of the Interpol.