Astana, 19 October. Kazakh police detected and stopped more than 15,800 violations of migration law in two weeks, the Interior Ministry said, summing up Operation Nelegal, which was held nationwide from 5 to 16 October.
Breaches of residence rules were the most common, with 7,595 foreigners held liable. Another 3,899 foreign nationals were penalised for working illegally, 815 employers for hiring workers without permits, and 3,533 individuals and legal entities for failing to inform the police about foreigners living with them.
Courts issued 2,243 expulsion orders, and the permitted stay of another 2,479 foreigners deemed undesirable was shortened. A total of 236 people were forcibly expelled, all of them banned from entering Kazakhstan for five years. Police also identified 14 foreigners who had crossed the border illegally, with an investigation under way together with the Border Service, and detained 62 people wanted in their home countries.
Expulsion means removing a foreign national from the country by court order; it becomes forcible when the person does not leave voluntarily and is taken out under police supervision. That is why there are almost ten times more expulsion orders than forcible removals: the others must leave on their own within the set deadline.
Police checked housing where foreigners live, places where they live in groups, construction sites, markets and businesses employing foreign labour. In Shymkent about 40 foreigners without work permits were found at a single construction site; similar violations were detected in Almaty and in Karaganda, Almaty, Atyrau, Mangystau, East Kazakhstan, Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions. Investigations have been opened against 10 employers that broke the rules on hiring foreign labour twice or more within a year: repeat offences carry criminal liability.
Background: Summing up the raid on the evening of 19 October, the Interior Ministry said that more than 2,200 foreigners would be expelled.
List of sources used: Airpress, LS, Sputnik Kazakhstan
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
