Without any investigation, the Depart­ment of Immigration (DOI) on May 6 released 11 North Koreans—10 women and one man—who were arrested on charges of working illegally in Nepal. The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) had arrested the North Koreans during a raid at the Pyongyang Arirang Restaurant in Durbar Marg on May 4. Nepali law bars foreigners from working in the country without a permit issued by the Department of Labor. The metropolitan police had handed the North Koreans over to the DOI on May 6 for further investigation. But the DOI turned them over to the North Korean Embassy in Kathmandu the same day, after the North Koreans promised, in writing, that they would not abuse their visa provisions again.

 

The DOI, which was making preparations to deport the North Koreans, reportedly backed down after Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa stood firm against their deportation. The minis­try spokesperson Ram Krishna Subedi claimed that the arrestees would face action in accor­dance with the law. Meanwhile, Director Gen­eral of DOI Dipak Kafle refused to comment.

 

In their statement to the DOI, the North Kore­ans said that they were in Nepal as tourists and not as workers and that they would return to their homeland in a few days. Of the 11 arrest­ees, two have business visas while the rest have tourist visas. Three are employees at the North Korean Embassy. Four have initiated a process with the Department of Industry to change the restaurant’s ownership.

 

In its letter to the DOI, the metropolitan police mentioned that the arrestees were found to have abused their visa by working in the country. Dhiraj Pratap Singh, Superintendent of Police at the MPCD, said, “Our investigation revealed that they had violated the country’s immigration laws, so we handed them over to the DOI for further inquiry and action.”

 

Officials at the DOI said there was no conclu­sive evidence that the North Koreans had been working in violation of the law.

 

Apart from violating immigration laws, the North Koreans were also charged with evading taxes. The restaurant they were working in, by cooking the books and claiming that it is always in the red, has not paid any taxes to Nepal government.

 

Most functions organized by the North Korean Embassy are held at Pyongyang Arirang Restaurant, which is apparently run under the embassy’s direct supervision. It employs some Nepali cooks but most of its workers are North Korean citizens. Some of the restaurant’s employees were also found to be working at a Chinese restaurant at the nearby Rising Mall.

 

It has also come to light that some North Korean doctors with business visas have been working at Ne Koryo, a hospital run by North Koreans in Damauli, the headquarters of the central hill district of Tanahun. Such employ­ment is also in violation of their business visas.

 

The metropolitan police had conducted a secret investigation after it was tipped off that some North Koreans were working without per­mits and that they could be involved in other illicit activities.

 

By Shambhu Kattel | Kathmandu