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Fiji’s immigration and customs officials will now be put under the spotlight as authorities try to establish how the passports held by 13 detained Indian nationals were stamped.
Authorities also want to determine how the passports show that the detainees have been in and out of Fiji, while they have been in the country all the time.
Director Immigration Major Nemani Vuniwaqa told FijiLive there are still a lot of questions which have been left unanswered.
“These are the sort of practices we are trying to curb. Fiji looks to be becoming a hub for transnational crimes, more of a link to other countries.”
He added that the arrest of the Indian nationals may mean that the practice is open to other foreigners as well.
“The visas these nationals are carrying are fake and if this has been happening, we suspect that there could be a large number of foreigners out there who are in the country with fake visas,” Vuniwaqa said.
He added that the Immigration Department will now be conducting checks on foreign nationals in the country.
“We have some leads from the immigrants arrested that there are more illegal immigrants out there, brought into the country through the human trafficking scam.
He believes the human trafficking racket has been in operation for a number of years.
”These Indian nationals include men and women who are believed to have been brought into Fiji by a local company about eight months ago and were staying illegally in the country."
They were arrested after raids were conducted in the Nasinu area.
