SUVA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Vanuatu government said on Wednesday that negotiations are underway between the ministry of internal affairs (MOIA) and the ministry of lands (MOL) to establish an Immigration Detention Center in Port Vila, capital of Vanuatu, to accommodate foreign nationals who are facing deportation.
According to Vanuatu's Daily Post on Wednesday, Vanuatu's Minister of Internal Affairs Andrew Napuat said that accommodating wanted foreign nationals is one of the major costs in deportation operations, especially when there is a long period of waiting before the actual deportation.
He said that the government has to spend a lot of money to accommodate foreign nationals suspected for criminality in hotels before deportation because there is no detention center.
"Since we have no Immigration Detention Center, we had to keep them in hotels and pay their daily meals and also provide allowances for officers hired to secure the hotel premise until such time they are deported, " he said. "For example, in the past we had some deportation operations that were unsuccessful. We sent out some individuals to their home country but along the way they were sent back, requiring us to spend more money."
Napuat said that having an Immigration Detention Center will help reduce the government’s financial burden when it comes to a situation like this.
They are discussing the possibility of turning one of the old government buildings into an Immigration Detention Center with the MOL, he said.
