Immigration authorities crackdown on national border management

Immigration authorities nationwide have resolved over 22,000 cases of various crimes that obstruct national border management since the beginning of this year, resulting in the apprehension of over 39,000 suspects, the National Immigration Administration on Monday.

Additionally, over 6,000 stowaways have been captured, 103 target fugitives who fled abroad have been captured in collaboration with relevant countries, it said.

Liu Haitao, deputy director of NIA said in border areas, the illegal departure of Chinese nationals has been effectively curbed, with the number of apprehended individuals for illegal departures decreasing by 30 percent compared to the previous year.

"However, the influx of foreign nationals illegally entering the country through border smuggling for work has increased. Immigration authorities have been monitoring this closely," he said.

Additionally, at open ports, smuggling groups from both domestic and foreign origins collude with each other to package potential stowaways as business professionals or qualified company employees via recruitment and forging invitation letters to fraudulently obtain entry and exit documents. Then, the stowaways would be organized to engage in cross-border illegal activities overseas.

Some criminal organizations recruit mainland residents to travel through Hong Kong and Macao to countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Central and South America, highlighting the prevalence of transit smuggling cases, he said.

Efforts have been intensified to carrying out special crackdown operations for illegal activities, dynamically adjusting inspection measures based on prompt cross-border illegal activities analysis and taking effective control measures at border access points, paths and crossings, he said.

Besides, an integrated approach of combining crackdowns with governance is being upheld to incorporate anti-smuggling efforts into grassroots comprehensive governance, he said, adding that immigration authorities have conducted rectification activities in key areas at the border areas, shutting down a number of illegal intermediary agencies and enterprises, he said.

Liu highlighted that the NIA has deepened international law enforcement cooperation with relevant countries and regions, establishing mechanisms for sharing intelligence, joint investigation and operation of cases, and pursuing and capturing suspects, which could further squeeze the space for criminals to evade justice abroad.