Nepal deports 122 Chinese arrested for visa violation

122 Chinese nationals who were arrested after a joint operation between Nepal and China two weeks ago have been deported.

Ram Chandra Tiwari, an officer at the Department of Immigration in Kathmandu said they were deported to China on Wednesday for violating Nepal’s visa rules.

“They had arrived on tourist visas, but had rented apartments and houses and engaged in other activities in Kathmandu.’’

Eight women and 114 men were arrested in three residential areas on the outskirts of Kathmandu in December 2019.

Photographs published on Thursday in Nepalese media showed the Chinese nationals boarding two Chinese planes amid light rain in Kathmandu.

The Himalayan Times reported that the planes left for Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in China.

Nepalese rights activists have criticised the government for deporting the Chinese without investigations into their alleged crimes in Nepal.

Nepal and China don’t have an extradition treaty, but the two countries signed an agreement on criminal matters during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal in October.