House of Reps moves motion to fish out illegal Chinese immigrants

The House of Representatives resumed plenary on Tuesday with a motion seeking relevant government agencies to check the validity of immigration documents of Chinese nationals in Nigeria

The House is seeking to fish out illegal and undocumented immigrants and repatriate them to China.

The bill, titled Maltreatment and Institutional Acts of Racial Discrimination against Nigerians Living in China by the Government of China, was sponsored by Benjamin Okezie Kalu, Yusuf Buba, John Dyegh, Babajimi Benson, Tunji Olawuyi, Zakari Galadima, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Nnoli Nnaji, Dennis Idahosa and Tolu Shadipe.

The prayers of the motion as unanimously adopted include; “one, condemn, in its entirety, the maltreatment, discrimination and xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in the Peoples Republic of China; two, urge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all relevant agencies to ensure that all Nigerians who wish to return home, including Nigerians that only visited for business, Nigerians with any form of travel document and identification, Nigerians with passports but expired visas, and Nigerians with passports and valid visas who have been ejected by house owners, Nigerians who have tested negative for COVID-19, are evacuated from China and quarantined upon arrival.”

They said, “The bill also urges the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all relevant agencies to provide all necessary financial and other assistance to affected Nigerian citizens in China who wish to seek redress in any local or international court for breach of fundamental rights, loss of property or any other actionable cause occasioned by their maltreatment or discrimination in China.

“Four, it mandates the Committees on Interior, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring, and Commerce to investigate the Nigerian Immigration, Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigerian Content and Development Monitoring Board, and any other relevant Ministry, Department or Agency to check the validity of all immigration documents of every Chinese person in Nigeria and the expatriate quota of all the Chinese businesses in Nigeria to ascertain the number of illegal and undocumented Chinese immigrants in Nigeria and to repatriate them to China.”