The president of Ecuador announced that he will deport 1,500 foreigners who are imprisoned in the country

The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, reported that he will deport more than a thousand foreigners who are currently being held in the country's prisons. The measure aimed at combating the growing wave of crime and reducing the nation's public spending will be applied immediately, according to the government.

Noboa announced this Wednesday that due to the recent challenges facing his country in terms of security, the government decided to reduce the number of people detained in prisons and to do so they will begin to deport 1,500 foreign citizens who are currently being held in prisons throughout the country.

“Foreign prisoner who has a sentence of five years or more (…) can be released[de Ecuador] and sent to his country,” he said.

The president explained that, unlike the country's extradition processes, Ecuador can remove foreigners and leave them at the border without having to make requests to their nations of origin. “According to Ecuadorian law and international treaties, we can remove those 1,500 and leave them at the border and thank you very much, stay there,” he said. Despite this, he clarified that the deportations will be done in close coordination with other countries.

According to the president, he intends to begin deporting citizens from nearby countries such as Colombia and Venezuela first, since the majority of foreign prisoners in the country are of these nationalities.

“We started this week with the deportation of the 1,500 foreigners, the majority (...) among Venezuelans and Colombians who are in prisons,” he said.

President Noboa's measure arises after the recent acts of violence that have shaken the country such as prison riots, car bomb explosions and prisoners escaping from jail, in addition to armed individuals taking over local television channels, among other unfortunate incidents that left at least eight people dead in Guayaquil.