More than 240 Chinese nationals were arrested for illegally entering Myanmar through Shan state during the first half of the year, mostly to look for work, a state immigration official told RFA.

According to the RFA report, most of the detained illegal migrants, as well as some Lao nationals, were found in the Shan towns of Muse, Lashio, and Tachileik where they sought jobs in mining projects in border towns, said Win Lwin, director of the state’s Immigration Department.

Many illegal Chinese nationals work in the gold, jade, and metal mining industries in Myanmar as well as on banana tissue and watermelon plantations, while a growing number of them are working in the gambling industry, the official said.