Shania Shayal Prasad 
Immigration Minister Viliame Naupoto.
The Ministry of Immigration has confirmed that more than 80 undocumented foreign nationals were deported between last year and April this year, as it conducts a nationwide compliance drive.
Minister Viliame Naupoto believes that some still remain in the country and are potentially continuing to work illegally.
He says the Ministry has spent over $50,000 of its allocated $100,000 deportation budget in this financial year.
“It’s a costly exercise if we pay for it. Most are paid by themselves. They call it voluntary removal. They just pay for their own fares, and they go back.”
Naupoto adds employers who knowingly hire undocumented foreign workers also face prosecution.
Minister for Employment Agni Deo Singh says undocumented workers are vulnerable to exploitation and underpayment.
“Because we also know from other countries that when a worker has overstayed in a country, or a worker is not a legal visitor to the country, or does not have a work permit, some employers make them work under the table and exploit them.”
The Immigration Ministry is giving these individuals until Saturday to regularize their immigration status or face detention, deportation, and possible bans on re-entry.
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