Ten Chinese nationals were deported from Myanmar last month after having been discovered illegally staying in the country in connection with their work on banana plantations in Kachin state.
An immigration official in Kachin said the 10 were handed over to Chinese officials on May 31, after paying a fine of 500,000 kyat (about $328) each. They were arrested for trespassing five days prior to that, but were deported after they were found to be in the country illegally.
An eleventh Chinese national was also fined the same amount and deported on the same charges June 3 after he was discovered following his involvement in a motorcycle accident.
“Ten of the eleven were arrested at the Sadon checkpoint and they were deported and handed over to Chinese authorities after the station charged them under Immigration Act Section 13 (1),” Waingmaw Chief of Police Kyaw Soe told RFA’s Myanmar Service in an interview.
A separate group of nine Chinese nationals involved in banana plantation work are also facing deportation for the same charge and also for violating Forestry Act Section 40 (a), after being arrested in Nantwah and Washaung reserve forests last month.
They have all paid the same 500,000 kyat fine, but remain in the country to face the charges by the Ministry of Forests.
