A businessman of Nabua, Suva, and his family will faces charges for allegedly harbouring illegal immigrants.
The businessman and his family run a bakery. The bakery was raided by immigration officers yesterday.
Immigration director, Major Nemani Vuniwaqa said the raid was carried out after a tip-off. "We caught two Chinese nationals baking in the shop," he said. On enquiry it was found the pair had expired visitors’ permits.
One of them had a permit that expired in January 2005 while the other visa that expired in April 2008.
“We’re now looking at avenues to get the family to be taken to task for harbouring illegal immigrants such as two Chinese nationals,” Major Vuniwaqa said.
He sounded a warning to locals who harboured illegal immigrants.
“For any local caught harbouring illegal immigrants they will be taken to task under the Immigration Act,” he said.
The department will be working with the Attorney-General’s Office to try and clear the legal aspects to enable it to take guilty parties to court for harbouring illegal immigrants.
The pair’s tickets back to their homeland are ready and they will leave for China on the next flight to Hong Kong on Thursday.
The nine Chinese women who were arrested after a raid by immigration and police officers last week are expected to be deported this week.
The group are remanded at Korovou Prison. Major Vuniwaqa said they have received a lot of support in this matter from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China.
