THE Bureau of Immigration yesterday said 158 foreigners were apprehended last year for violating the country’s immigration laws.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said topping the list of arrested foreigners were 86 Chinese, followed by Koreans (37) and Nigerians (10).
Also apprehended were six Indians, four Americans, four Britons, three Japanese, and two Indonesians.
Morente said the number is lower than the 510 arrested in 2020 primarily due to the imposition of travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since only those with valid and existing long-term visas are allowed entry in the country, we saw a major decrease in foreign nationals in the number of foreign nationals in the country. Apart from that, many of those who were already in the country were repatriated back to their homelands,” Morente explained.
