KATHMANDU: Why do the foreigners come to Nepal? Most of us think it’s either to visit, business or employment. We think our unique culture, bio-diversity, hospitality and honesty are tempting for any outsiders.
However, surprising to many there is another group of people coming to Nepal to execute crimes. When the government has gone for welcoming hands, the threat posed by the foreign criminals can hardly be overlooked.
The latest data of Nepal Police reveals that in the last 5 years there have been more than 3,500 instances of the foreigner’s involvement in criminal activities. According to DIG Sailesh Thapa Chhetri, the Spokesperson at Nepal Police, most of the foreigners arrested in allegation of crime are from India, China, Europe and America.
Foreigners in Crime Yearly record (last
5 years)
| SN | Fiscal year | No. Of people involved |
| 1 | 2015/16 | 469 |
| 2 | 2016/17 | 555 |
| 3 | 2017/18 | 739 |
| 4 | 2018/19 | 857 |
| 5 | 2019/20(Jul.17-Feb.12) | 881 |
Source: Nepal Police Headquarters
According to Spokesperson Thapa, some of the foreign nationals come to Nepal with the criminal intent.
“Under the tourist guise, they are found involved in drug smuggling, poaching, forgery, counterfeit currency, loots, cybercrimes including ATM Hacking and call bypass, child molestation, sexual abuse, gold-smuggling etc.” he tried to list the areas of their involvement while speaking to Khabarhub.
Foreigners at Nepali prisons
According to the Department of Prison Management, there are 1265 foreign prisoners and detainees. There are 24,018 inmates in 74 prisons and 8 child reform centers of the country.
The General Director of the Department Gajendra Bahadur Shrestha confesses that the number of foreign inmates is increasing. According to him, there are 215 foreign jailbirds in Parsa District Prison, this is the biggest number in a single jail. The foreign cons are in 32 places including Jagannath Dewal and Dillibazaar of Kathmandu, Nakkhu- Lalitpur, Jhapa, Ilam, Morang, Sunsari, Mahottari, Kailali etc.
Parsa District Prison: 215
Jagganath Dewal Prison, Kathmandu: 202
Jhapa District Prison: 112
Regional Prison Sunsari, Jhumka: 82
Nakkhu Prison, Lalitpur: 124
Makwanpur District Prison: 65
Banke District Prison: 52
Morang District Prison: 65
Kailali District Prison: 32
Dillibazaar Prison: 27
Mahottari District Prison: 30
Kaski District Prison: 28
Rautahat District Prison: 22
Kapilvastu District Prison: 24
Others: 186
Total: 1,265
Source: Department of Prison Management
Indians have topped the number of inmates and detainees in Nepali prisons while the second spot has been occupied by Chinese nationals. Similarly, there are the jailbirds from Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, to African nations, European countries and the USA.
According to General Director Shrestha, most of the Pakistani jailbirds are in counterfeit currency, whereas the Chinese are involved in cybercrime and smuggling. The Indians in jail are those involved in forgery, drug smuggling, and cross-border crimes to mention few. Most of the European and African inmates are involved in smuggling, forgery and sexual assaults.
Govt. spending over Rs 90 million on foreign inmates
The government has been doling out 700 grams of rice and Rs 60 to prisoners on a daily basis. Besides this, they are entitled to Dashain, maternity, clothes and medical treatment among other allowances.
According to the Department of Prison, the government is spending Rs 6000-6500 per prisoner on a monthly basis. Provided it’s counted as 6000 per person the cost for 1265 jailbirds goes to be 7.59 million per month which means 90 million per year.
Why are foreigners in crime here?
The record at the Department of Prison Management shows that the number of foreigners jailbirds is hiking lately.
According to it, there were 1,028 foreigners passing time in jail in 2015, which has reached 1265 now.
According to the experts in the field, the cause of foreign criminal’s arrival over here is actually the weak law enforcement mechanism, open border with India, and fragile immigration policy.
“Citing the weak laws and law-enforcing mechanism, foreign criminals chose Nepal to execute their criminal intent,” says former AIG Navaraj Dhakal.
According to him, the criminals come here in the guise of tourists, rent a house, flat or hotel and start conspiring for the crimes. He thinks it imperative for the curbing mechanism to work aggressively against such activities.
“When they feel, their criminal activities will be booked and they will be cuffed they surely give up the execution of crime from here,” former DIG Dhakal adds.
He deems it necessary to update the list of foreign criminals so that the authority can be more vigilant against them prior to the execution of the crime.
Comment