Sad, 10,000 Chinese Residents Abandoned On The Border With Myanmar

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - More than 10,000 Chinese nationals are trapped at the Ruili border post, Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar. Chinese media said they wanted to surrender themselves to return to their country due to the deteriorating political situation and the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar.

Reporting from Antara, Sunday, October 3, they previously fled to Myanmar for several cases of cross-border crimes, such as fraud through telecommunications equipment.

The return of thousands of Chinese citizens did not go smoothly. They were stuck in long lines at the border post because of the strict health protocols implemented by the Chinese authorities.

"Only a hundred people per day are allowed to cross the Ruili border post. They must show the results of a PCR test. The positive ones are sent straight to a special treatment facility, the negative ones are immediately quarantined," an official in Ruili was quoted as saying by the Global Times.

The swift wave of Chinese repatriation occurred after the Chinese government asked its citizens in Myanmar to register their identities. To a number of media, the Ruili government said that the new regulation was issued due to the heated political situation and the worsening of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar.

This development has made Chinese citizens in Myanmar flock to surrender to the Chinese authorities.

The residents came from several provinces in China, such as Hubei, Jiangxi, and Henan. The provinces have given the perpetrators a deadline to turn themselves in.

The city of Tianmen in Hubei Province has given a deadline of June 15 for anyone to turn themselves in. If they do not pass the time limit, they will be given leniency.

The crowd that occurred at the border post made Ruili City again face a serious risk of COVID-19 cases. The city in southern China has experienced several waves of COVID-19 cases.

Yunnan Province on Saturday, October 2 alone, has found 14 cases of COVID-19 that afflicted Chinese citizens who previously fled to Myanmar and decided to surrender.