Lt. Aloysius Alonz said that the operation is in line with the directive of President Johnson Toribiong to see if Bangladesh have legal documents to work or stay in Palau.
Alonz said their role in the operation is to see if there are illegal activities while processing these documents.
Alonz said they invite each Bangladesh for questioning regarding his status to see if he is in compliance with the law.
“We invite them and question them and the purpose of our investigation is to see if the process is done legally. If they are illegal aliens then it’s up to the Division of Labor and the Bureau of Immigration to prosecute them. Our role is just to investigate if there are illegal activities during the process,” Alonz said.
He said more than 30 people have already been invited and questioned.
He said investigation is still ongoing.
The investigation on Bangladesh nationals started when Division of Labor disclosed that at least half of the number of Bangladesh living in Palau has overstayed their work permits.
The Division of Labor statistics stated that only 275 out of the 480 Bangladesh national in the country have valid work permits.
The statistics said that either the permits have expired or employers have not yet paid renewal permits way past the expiration date.
The President in an earlier interview with the media said that the government will deal with the overstaying Bangladesh by sending them home.
Earlier the president issued Executive Order No.274 which will exclude Myanmar nationals and Bangladeshi nationals fromentering Palau.
The Bureau of Immigration and Labor Division were then ordered to update the list of visas issued to a person holding a passport issued by an excluded country from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
There were eight Myanmar nationals who entered Palau to seek political asylum, they have since left the country.
The Division of Labor and the Bureau of Immigration submitted the exact numbers of the Myanmar nationals and Bangladeshi nationals in Palau currently.
Since Palau has no diplomatic relationship with the Bangladesh country, the government will deal with the embassy located in Manila.
The Division of Labor prior to the issuance of the executive order already has a regulation in place banning the entry of Bangladesh nationals into the country as workers because of the countries’ lack of diplomatic relationship with Palau and the cultural differences.
