Legislator Ella Lei Cheng I recently submitted a written enquiry to the government, urging the authorities to tackle the problem of overstaying which may result in burglary, illegal working and document forgery, which she considers potential risks to Macau’s social security. Ms. Lei cited statistics from the police saying that in the first quarter of this year the number of individuals staying in Macau longer than permitted had dropped significantly to 8,251 from 12,292 in the same period of last year. However, the legislator pointed out that the number of cases of overstaying in the SAR for longer than 30 days has increased. The authorities recently increased fines for overstaying and tightened the visa policy in order to combat such infringements. However, Ella Lei considers the measures lack effectiveness, as in recent years Macau has still recorded more than 30,000 individuals overstaying each year. The number stood as high as 48,154 last year and put more pressure on the security works of the city. The legislator urges the government to look into the matter and tackle the problem at root.
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