Nine Chinese and two Russians who entered the country as, visitors have been arrested by personnel of the Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service for allegedly working without permits. The suspects were arrested during an inspection tour of 15 small-scale mining sites at Wassa-Breman, Wassa-Akropong and Wassa-Nkunya, all in the Western Region. The objective of the tour was to check the validity of documents or work permits of those engaged in the mining sector. The Chinese are Wu Shuo, Gian Zhanglan, Ziang Lin, Hailong Zhou, Chen Mao Xing, Huang Gean, Chen Zuoyong, Chen Rongong and Tan Lichun. The Russians are Mammaob Khanlar and Khurshiolou Firudin. They are to be repatriated, Francis Palmdeti, Head of Public Affairs Directorate of GIS, told the Times. He said the suspects were working with visitor's visas instead of working permits. As penalty, the companies they were working with, Hill Part Company Limited and Realont Mining Company, are to pay GH¢2,000 for each of the suspects. Mr. Palmdeti said during the tour, it became evident that some local men and opinion leaders condoned the activities of the illegal immigrants. Quoting the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) which states that no foreigner can be employed without recourse to the Immigrant Quota Committee of the Ministry of the Interior, he said it behoved the companies to ensure that those they engaged possessed the requisite working documents, especially the foreigners. "Companies or persons who wish to engage the services of foreigners should do so in accordance with the laws of the land. They should ensure that they apply for working and resident permits on behalf of the foreigners from the GIS," he said, adding that it was an offence to engage the services of a foreigner without the requisite permit. He cautioned immigrants to be mindful of the country's rules and regulations and not be seen to be abusing the country’s hospitality. Source: Ghanaian Times