Guangdong targeting illegal immigrants

• Source: Global Times
• [03:47 December 16 2009]
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By Deng Jingyin

Local government officials in Guangdong Province are working on plans to crack down on illegal immigration in the region that sees the most traffic of non-Chinese entering and exiting the country.

The move is being made in the interest of enhanced security ahead of Asian Games.

Local governments are charged with handling residency and employment issues for foreigners, while also ensuring that foreigners are entering legally and not overstaying their visas. The Foshan local government held a meeting Monday aimed at improving government services for foreign residents, including managing them more efficiently.

The Hong Kong Commercial Daily recently reported that, according to the latest data from the Guangdong Provincial Entry-Exit Administration Department, the number of foreigners traveling internationally via Guangdong during the first half of this year reached 6.15 million, or 30.4 percent of the total seen throughout China.

In all, Guangdong has about 57,800 permanent foreign residents and more than 1.14 million temporary residents, the newspaper noted.

And according to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, China has seen a broadening of crimes some foreigners engage in, such as drug smuggling, robbery, fraud and human trafficking.

"Problems involving foreigners are increasingly severe, which has brought new challenges to the economy, society and security," Ouyang Jiangxuan, director of a Guangdong government department that is in charge of security affairs involving foreigners, told the Global Times by phone Tuesday.

Immigrants staying illegally in Guangdong mainly originate from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and most have expired visas or lost their passports deliberately to extend their stay.

Seven illegal immigrants, comprising three Africans and four from South Asia, were repatriated last month in Dongguan, according to Dongguan Daily.