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Overstayers in marriages of convenience
By Feizal Samath
The Immigration and Emigration Department -- trying to curb the rising number of illegal foreign workers including prostitutes -- wants to blacklist and penalise those overstaying their visas but is confronted with a new situation: some marry local women for convenience.

“We have come across a few cases of males, overstaying their visas, but they marry local women just for convenience. They come to our office with a marriage licence and apply for a long-term visa,” said Parakrama Fernando, the department’s Assistant Controller (Investigations).

These foreigners are either Indians or Pakistanis and they could be marrying locals just to prolong their stay here, he told The Sunday Times. The department on Friday placed a newspaper advertisement warning that action would be taken under current laws against those who employ foreigners without a permit, and also called on the public to alert the authorities if they came across such cases.

“Members of the general public are hereby requested to provide information about such persons (locals) and also about foreign nationals who create disharmony amongst people by anti-religious activities and also who engage in anti-social activities such as prostitution,” the department said, giving telephone numbers including Mr. Fernando’s to contact with information.
There are no accurate figures but Mr. Fernando believes there are 5,000 to 6,000 foreigners working here after arriving as tourists and not obtaining valid work permits. Since there is no record maintained at the airport of departing foreigners who have overstayed, it is difficult to have accurate numbers, he said.

“Overstays are not penalized or detained. They are allowed to leave (when they arrive at the airport to depart). That is the practice and tendency in most parts of the world,” he said adding however that the department is now seriously considering enforcing a penalty and putting them on a blacklist – not to be permitted again into the country.

He said 20 to 30 percent are women prostitutes from Thailand, China, Russia and Ukraine and they were employed and backed by ‘powerful’ groups here. On Thursday, eight Thai girls were found by the police working in a four-star hotel in Colombo. They have been given a seven-day extension of their already expired visas and asked to leave the country. “We don’t generally arrest or detain these people.”

Two weeks ago too some Ukrainian women were deported. There are many Indians and Pakistanis also working in Sri Lanka without work permits.
Other Immigration sources spoke of a section of Duplication Road in Colombo dubbed ‘China Town” with many Chinese restaurants and karaoke bars frequented by foreign prostitutes.

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