Chinese border police have called for more international
cooperation to stop stowaways and assist in the rounding up of
people smugglers.
More people smugglers are operating around the globe and the
failure of overseas governments to hunt them down has greatly
influenced the frequency of people smuggling cases, according to
Deng Benyuan, a senior border police officer in east China's Fujian
Province.
"We want to exchange more information with our overseas
counterparts and strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation in
an effort to try and stamp out people smuggling all together," he
said.
At a press conference on Friday, Deng said the number of people
sneaking into Taiwan Province and foreign countries from the
mainland had climbed in recent years.
This year, a total of 2,225 people were sent back from Taiwan to
Fujian -- an increase of 40 percent over last year.
And 205 people were sent back from foreign countries such as
Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Malaysia.
"The people came from at least 20 provinces and regions around
China and women are accounting for a larger percentage than ever
before," Deng said.
Most of the women who were smuggled to Taiwan were then forced
to work in the sex industry, he said.
Deng said people smuggling is not easily stopped as many people
wanting to live elsewhere have relatives overseas to turn to.
In addition, some Western countries have double standards when
dealing with illegal emigrants, based on political and economic
reasons, which entices people to try their luck, Deng said.
Despite facing an uphill battle, border police have not spared
any efforts in targeting people smugglers and their cargoes this
year.
Statistics show police have cracked 262 cases and captured 1,456
suspects so far, respectively 15 and 30 percent higher than last
year.
(China Daily December 27, 2003)