With a few days remaining for the APEC Summit, the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Authority (ICA) is in a formidable position to identify, detect and prevent security threats posed by the large number of travelers moving across our borders.
Chief Migration Officer, Solomon Kantha, said ICA is proud to be one of the agencies at the forefront of APEC activities.
“And we stand ready to play our part in hosting a successful APEC 2018.”
Kantha said they will be very strict in people coming and going out of the country during the APEC week.
In doing so, he said the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Authority has prevented a foreign national, who had historical convictions for sexual assault of a child, from entering Papua New Guinea.
Kantha said the individual had been convicted of assault on a child in their country of origin and had sought to enter PNG last week.
He added that foreign criminals are not welcome in our country.
He went on and said the person, who sought to enter PNG as a tourist, was apprehended and departed the country on the very same aircraft he arrived in.
Kantha stressed that the efficiency of this action sends a clear message that ICA will offer no quarter to foreign criminals seeking to come to our country.
“With the assistance of the Police, ICA is connecting our visa and border systems to InterPol databases – giving real time access to alerts on criminals and stolen passports from all over the world.
“This is a vital tool for any modern border agency in which we will use to keep PNG safe.”