Guangdong sees Southeast Asia as big source of illegal residents

Police in Guangdong province have detained more than 1,800 illegal immigrants this year, mostly from Southeast Asia, as part of a crackdown on cross-border human smuggling.

That's a 40 percent increase over the same period last year.

Most were stopped while trying to take buses, and said they hoped to earn higher wages than those available in their native countries, according to Jiang Mingxiang, deputy director of the provincial border control police.

Experience has shown, however, that some illegal immigrants have become involved in theft, robbery and drug trafficking in Hong Kong, seriously disrupting security and border management, Jiang said.

Police also detained more than 70 people smugglers, including four from Hong Kong and Taiwan and four from foreign countries, as well as the owners of factories found to employ illegal immigrants.

In an operation on Feb 19, police detained 80 illegal immigrants from Southeast Asia, eight people smugglers and two factory owners in Dongguan, Guangdong.

In that operation, officers cracked a gang operating in Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region that was engaged in smuggling people from Southeast Asia and arranging jobs for them.

Some illegal immigrants in the case said they had hoped to reach Hong Kong.

In another operation in February in Maoming, Guangdong and Guangxi's Fangchenggang, police detained 15 smugglers, 211 illegal immigrants from Southeast Asia and a factory owner in Maoming.

Labor shortages play a part in attracting illegal immigrants, said Sun Huiyuan, an officer with the Guangdong border control police, adding that most are 20 to 50 years old.

Illegal immigrants enter by using land and waterway connections and arrive in Guangdong through the extensive highway network. All detainees will be deported, Sun said.

Guangdong police have also cracked a number of cases in which people from the Chinese mainland were being smuggling into Hong Kong, from where some planned to sneak into other countries.

This month, officers broke a ring spanning Shenzhen in Guangdong, Fuqing in Fujian province and Hong Kong, detaining 11 smugglers and one person attempting to illegally enter Hong Kong.

Hong Kong police sent information in November that a ring had long smuggled people from the mainland to Hong Kong by forging documents to obtain permission to visit Hong Kong.

Police in Guangdong and Hong Kong stay in close contact, sharing information and solving cases jointly, Jiang said.

Along with Macao police, they launched a six-month campaign on March 5 against cross-border organized crime, he said.

liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn