Authorities target illegal border activities

Immigration authorities will maintain a tough stance against illegal activities that impede border management in order to protect national security and people's interests, the Chinese National Immigration Administration said on Monday.

Targeted efforts will be made to crack down on the illegal entry of foreigners into China for employment and the illegal exit of Chinese to neighboring countries to engage in gambling and fraud, the administration said.

Stringent punishment, with the maximum penalty of life imprisonment, will be meted out to the key personnel of illegal immigration organizations, their ships and vehicles will be seized and their illegal gains recovered, it said.

Qu Yunhai, deputy head of the administration, said some Chinese people and foreigners had evaded normal exit and entry inspections to engage in illegal cross-border activities in recent years, seriously disrupting order at the frontier and creating risks in COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.

The administration launched a campaign in December against crimes that impede border management in response to cross-border illegal and criminal activities.

So far, immigration authorities have investigated more than 6,700 criminal cases of obstructing border control, up 156 percent year-on-year. In addition, they have arrested about 17,300 suspects, up 202 percent year-on-year, and 18,600 stowaways, a year-on-year rise of 248 percent, according to the administration.

The authorities broke up 242 criminal gangs and investigated 256 intermediary agencies and enterprises involved in cases of illegal immigration and employment of foreigners, it said.

Qu said the crackdown focused on behind-the-scenes planners, organizers and key members of stowaway gangs, in order to break the chain of cross-border illegal immigration. These moves have effectively deterred criminal activities that jeopardize border control, he added.

Liu Haitao, director of the administration's border inspection department, said there are many cases of foreigners entering China illegally and also Chinese illegally exiting for criminal activities such as gambling at the nation's southwestern frontier.

"The gangs that provide such services have complete organizations, with a detailed division of labor, covert means of contact, and a variety of modes of transportation and smuggling routes," Liu said.

"Some border residents inside and outside China, who are familiar with local conditions, have been motivated by selfish interests and facilitated the transport and provided shelter to illegal migrants," he said.

Publicity and education should be strengthened to raise border residents' awareness of national security, national boundaries and laws, he added.

Liu Jie, an official with the Ministry of Public Security, said that measures, including a crackdown on unlicensed ships in coastal areas, were taken to curb illegal entry into China via areas where there are long and winding coastlines and numerous islands.