A French national banned from entering Nepal after overstaying his visa has been found to have entered Nepal using a different passport three months after his deportation.
Fitte-Rey Herve Laurent first came to Nepal on 20 July 2019. The 49-year-old from Oursbelille in southern France then overstayed his visa for 525 days before going to the Department of Immigration to get it renewed.
Department officials arrested Laurent for overstaying and he was deported on 22 December 2020, with a ban on entry into Nepal for a year. Officials don't know what activities the French man was involved in during his stay in Nepal.
Laurent returned to Nepal on 15 March 2021, this time with a new passport. This time also, he did not get his visa renewed but overstayed for over three months. Again, no one knows what he was up to during the period.
On June 20, he visited the immigration department to get his visa renewed. "We arrested him (Laurent) immediately and are investigating his engagements in Nepal during the period he overstayed his visa," says investigating officer Baikuntha Regmi.
Officials immediately identified Laurent and registered a case against him at the Kathmandu District Court. This time the court banned him from entering Nepal for two years. Department officials believe Laurent is not back in France.
Laurent claims to be an expert in beekeeping and came to Nepal to work in agriculture, officials say. But then foreigners on tourist visas can't be involved in any business.
Although the Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a body to monitor the activities of foreigners in Nepal, its work hasn't been effective. Foreigners have time and again been found to have breached the terms of their visa by indulging in various illegal activities.
That a banned person could enter Nepal with a different passport has also raised questions about the screening system used at the Tribhuvan International Airport. There might be others who are using the loophole in the system to come to Nepal even if they are banned from doing so, officials argue.
