Only 20 of them presented their passports, all with visas that had expired seven months to a year ago. The remaining 40 had no identity papers or were using fake or invalid passports.
The raids were conducted jointly by the Thu Duc and HCMC Police Departments.
Pham Van Anh, head of the Immigration Department, said they were being held in custody at a special section at Tan Son Nhat International Airport Terminal and faced possible fines or expulsion.
Police said yesterday raids were part of a campaign recently launched by HCMC Police Department targeting illegal residents, to reduce crimes committed by foreigners.
The campaign was in line with an instruction from HCMC People’s Committee on the issue in mid-February.
Police will also penalize landlords who don’t file proper housing documents when leasing property to foreigners and anyone helping foreigners reside illegally in the city.
HCMC police reported 109 offenses involving foreigners in a two-week period last November. The majority of cases involved a lack of identification, expired visas and disturbing the peace, while a minority of detainees had committed robbery or fraud.
Police officials said unclear regulations pertaining to foreigners hampered the handling of the cases.
Vietnam has no detention centers for foreign suspects and they can only be detained in police custody for a maximum of 24 hours.
Source: TN, VNA |
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