Immigration police caught 483 foreigners on tourist visas illegally working and running businesses in Timor-Leste between January and June, most of which were from Indonesia.
“They (migrants) are working in construction and some are businessmen. We catch and take them to the immigration and process [the cases] according to the immigration law,” said Operation Commander of the Immigration Police, Vicente Gusmão
Under articles 118 and 119 in immigration law no. 9/2003, foreign citizens are not permitted to work on a tourist visa.
He said the majority were from Indonesia, China, Australia, Canada, Vietnam and the Philippines.
He said some of the foreign nationals had been fined and others were facing deportation.
National MP Jacinto Viegas Vicente appreciated with the work of Police immigration who managed to capture those foreigners for breaking the immigration law.
“But it is sad that our system is still so weak that it is easy for immigrants to enter in large numbers,” he said.
He therefore asked the government to look at the issue as a reference for tightening the immigration system from people from entering and exiting Timor-Leste as they wished.
“We should change the system so that people don’t break our law,” he said.
