44 Indian nationals arrested for breaching visa regulations

The Immigration Department today (Sept 5) arrested 44 Indian nationals who had been employed as construction workers in Slave Island, Colombo despite arriving in the country on a tourist visa.

Immigration Department Assistant Controller (Investigations) M. G. V. Kariyawasam said that the workers had been arrested during an operation carried out at 5 am.

The suspects have been identified as those between the ages of 25 and 50 and that the had overstayed their visas for around two to three months.

Mr. Kariyawasam added that the workers had said that their contractors had not paid their wages for the last two months.

Meanwhile, the employment visas of 18 Indian nationals who also had been employed at the site, had been seized since their visas did not permit them to engage in construction activities.

Steps would be taken to handover the suspects to the Mirhana Detention Centre, the immigration official noted adding that the proprietor of the construction company has been instructed to appear before the Immigration Department in due course.