Mongolia bans Nigerian citizens over drug issues
-- Foreign citizens increasingly involved with drug-related cases -
On Thursday, Director of the Mongolian Immigration Agency D.Murun held a press conference regarding recent deportation of two Nigerian citizens, and provided detailed information on Mongolian immigration matters.
“As part of our efforts in assisting growth of sports in Mongolia, we have been taking dedicated measures to assist foreign sports people coming into Mongolia; these sports include soccer, basketball and volleyball. Majority of sports unions and organizations invite and bring foreign sportspeople legally, but there are some that utilize illegal means. One such example is the case of two Nigerian citizens. They obtained a 30-day tourist visa in India for their entry, one of them has been deported on October 11, and the remaining one will be deported on October 26,” D.Murun said at the beginning of the press conference. He moved on to provide general information on immigration of foreign citizens into Mongolia.
“Our organization does not check or investigate criminal activities. For instance on October 14, we stopped a Chinese citizen from smuggling foreign currency equal to approximately 120 million MNT into Mongolia, and transferred the case to Mongolian Customs General Administration for further investigation.”
He continued that by law, any foreign citizen must state the purpose of their visit, and the associated authorities then investigate this claim based on this statement before notifying the Mongolian Immigration Agency.
“Lately, citizens from foreign countries are increasingly involved with illegal drugs in Mongolia, especially from countries with well-known drug concerns. Our inspection and monitoring efforts are thorough in this matter. Our organization has not issued a visa for this particular Nigerian citizen, this person obtained a 30-day visa from the Mongolian Embassy in England. By law, they are allowed to issue business or tourist visas of up to 30 days without consulting with the Mongolian Immigration Agency. In truth, Nigerian citizens have now been banned from entry to Mongolia.”
He continued to elaborate on the recent departure of Turkish citizens from Mongolia to Canada: five Turkish families totaling to 35 people had their passports invalidated as requested by Turkish authorities, and before the immigration agency received permission to deport them, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees requested that they should be given political asylum, and therefore, they have been allowed travel to Canada last August.
Recently, the immigration agency deported a number of people mainly involved with employment that did not match with what they stated upon entry into Mongolia, in addition to people who overstayed their visa duration. Over a billion MNT in penalties has been imposed on 216 foreign citizens registered in 117 companies, 2,159 foreign invitees by 820 companies, and currently a total of 372 foreign citizens from 22 countries have been deported.
He noted that the majority of people who overstay their visas have been granted their entry permissions through the 30-day business or tourist visas that are mainly issued from Erenhot and Hohhot in China.
“We have presented this concern to the Cabinet about 10 days ago,” he said, explaining that Cabinet has been in support of companies that bring foreign workforce and increased their quota, but they are not being employed in companies that they initially agreed to work at.
“One notable example is the case of 20 foreigners who arrived in Mongolia to work in road construction, but they were discovered working in a meat processing factory. The most recent instance is when our agents checked documentation of 92 Chinese citizens in Uvurkhangai Province; although they had valid visas, they were working in a meat processing factory and not in construction of roads and bridges as stated in their paperwork. In this regard, there is also the problem of reselling employment quota.”
The Mongolian Law on Foreign Citizens directs how many foreigners may reside in Mongolia. This law states the total number of foreigners that may reside in Mongolia for personal matters is at three percent of Mongolian native population, or at present Mongolian population, this totals to around 96,000 people. Today, there are 28,268 registered foreign citizens in Mongolia, according to immigration officials.
There is also an upper limit of one percent of total Mongolian population from a single nation, currently the highest number of foreign citizens from one country is China, at 0.4 percent or 13,248 people. For permanent immigration or residence, there is a limit of 0.5 percent. Currently, there are 1,927 foreign citizens with such visas from 16 countries, and majority of them are from Russia and China.
As for tourism this year, D.Murun said the immigration agency issued 2,374 tourist visas with more than 30 days of stay for 118 tour operators. This year saw the opening of Sumber, a new immigration checkpoint in Dornod Province. Total tourists increased by 59 percent this year, including numbers from Sumber, and foreign students coming into Mongolia increased by 28 percent.
Mongolia allows foreign workforce into the country through associated laws – and Cabinet sets its quota. For example, this year Cabinet decided that 90 percent of workers at a construction project must be Mongolians while the remaining 10 percent are open for employment by foreign individuals. Currently, Mongolia employs 9,929 foreign citizens from 87 countries.