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Ecuador suspends visa-free entry for Chinese nationals due to “irregular migration flows”

The above video was first published on February 4, 2024.


Ecuador is suspending a visa waiver agreement with China. Some Chinese nationals have taken advantage of this agreement by Flight from Ecuador to Tijuana, Mexicoand then illegally crossed the southern border of the USA.

The South American country spoke of a “worrying increase in migration flows” in its announcement on Tuesday, noting that in recent months about half of the Chinese citizens who have entered Ecuador have not left the country through regular channels or within the 90-day period permitted by law.

This move comes against the backdrop of an increase in the number of Chinese nationals at the US-Mexico border.

More than 24,000 Chinese nationals have been encountered at the U.S. southwest border so far this year, the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee said on April 18. Almost all of them were arrested while crossing the border illegally. The committee found that such encounters have increased by more than 8,000% compared to March 2021. In April, the most recent data available, there were 3,324 encounters with Chinese nationals at the southern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Last year, according to Customs and Border Protection, 37,000 Chinese citizens were arrested while illegally entering the United States from Mexico. Migrants previously told 60 Minutes that they have embarked on the journey to escape the increasingly repressive political climate in China and sluggish economy.

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for Chinese citizens to obtain visas to visit, work or study in the United States, 60 Minutes reported in February. Only 160,000 temporary visas were granted to Chinese citizens in 2022, compared to 2.2 million in 2016.

60 Minutes asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection how Ecuador’s announcement could affect migration at the southern border.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday that the mutual visa exemption between China and Ecuador, which came into effect in August 2016, promotes cross-border travel and cooperation.

Officials in Ecuador said the mutual visa exemption was only temporarily suspended.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility reiterates its commitment to ensuring that people visiting the country can do so with adequate security guarantees and preventing them from becoming victims of human trafficking or migrant smuggling. In addition, it ensures adequate national immigration control and arrangements for the normal operation of air transport companies,” said a statement from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility.

During his briefing on Tuesday, Lin also addressed the issue of human smuggling, saying the Chinese government is against any form of human smuggling.

“In recent years, Chinese law enforcement agencies have made tremendous efforts to combat crimes involving obstruction of national borders and border management, and have cracked down on all kinds of people smuggling groups and individuals engaging in illegal immigration,” Lin said. “Their efforts have yielded good results. At the same time, Chinese law enforcement agencies are working with relevant countries to jointly crack down on people smuggling activities, repatriate illegal immigrants, and maintain good order in cross-border travel.”

Ecuador’s announcement comes just weeks after President Biden authorized U.S. immigration authorities to deport large numbers of migrants. without their asylum applications being processed.