Foreigners overstaying visas and doing odd jobs

By T. K. G. Kapila

Foreign nationals who overstay their visas and do various odd jobs to earn money continue unabated with the authorities concerned hamstrung with the lack of resources to curb them, an official said.

In one instance, another group of 15 foreigners overstaying their visas in Sri Lanka and doing online jobs for a living were arrested by an investigation team of the Department of Immigration and Emigration during raids in Colombo and Dehiwala yesterday.

Eleven of them were Indians from Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttharakhand, Gujarat and Maharashtra states and others Napalese aged between 20 and 30.

Initial investigations revealed that some of them had arrived on resident visas and others on tourist visas

A senior official of the Department of Immigration and Emigration said the suspect foreigners would be further interrogated at the Mirihana Detention Centre and deported after court proceedings.

The investigations are conducted on the instructions of Controller General of Immigration and Emigration Harsha Ilukpitiya.

An official of the Public Security Ministry said some foreigners easily pass off as locals and do odd jobs. He stressed on the need to work out a coordinated approach with the involvement of all the relevant agencies to identify them.

Currently, the investigative authorities are facing difficulties due to lack of human resources in curbing such unlawful activities by foreigners.