The cost of deporting four Asian nationals who attempted to enter Bermuda on forged Japanese passports in January could be as high as $80,000 - and involve a trip around the world for six immigration officers, the Department of Immigration has confirmed.

However Assistant Chief Immigration Officer Rozy Azhar explained that, due to issues such as SARS and national/airline security, there was no cheaper way.

The three Chinese and one Singaporean entered Bermuda in January and were arrested by officials as they tried to leave the country on forged Japanese passports. They have been on remand awaiting deportation ever since.

With the deportations imminent, however, questions have been raised about the route officials are taking to escort the four home, and the amount of money it will cost.

Ms Azhar confirmed the three Chinese, who are all expected to leave Bermuda this week, would travel from Bermuda to London and then on to a western European city such as Amsterdam before heading to Bangkok. From Bangkok, the escorting Bermudian immigration officials will leave the Chinese (who will fly direct to China from Thailand) and continue on to Tokyo, Hawaii, Los Angeles, New York and finally Bermuda.

Two Bermudian officials will escort each deportee, and the deportees have to leave on three different days.

The fourth man, who was originally thought to be from China also but later revealed he was from Singapore, was deported last Thursday. He travelled from Bermuda to Singapore via London and Amsterdam.

There are more direct routes to China but Ms Azhar said that Immigration was satisfied it had done the best it could at being cost- and time-effective.

She explained that, because they are illegal aliens from China, most countries were loathe to allow them to land. “So we have to go through places where we don't have to leave airside i.e. don't go through immigration),” she said.

That means, for example, in the case of the Singaporean, it was not possible to put him on a direct flight to Singapore from London as that would mean he had to pass through Immigration at Heathrow Airport.

He therefore had to go to Amsterdam, from where he could fly direct to Singapore without leaving airside. The three Chinese are forced to fly through Amsterdam and Thailand for the same reason.

As for the round-the-world trip for the escorting officers: “That exercise has been an arduous one,” said Ms Azhar. “We knew it was going to be expensive no matter what - but the more direct the route, the more expensive it got.”

It is similar for Bermudians travelling back and forth from Canada: to fly direct to Toronto is actually more expensive than flying through the US.

Immigration was also at the mercy of the airlines, said Ms Azhar. “They would only take one (of the deportees) at a time, and they had to be fully secure i.e. with two immigration officers escorting them). We have to give that assurance to Government and the airline.”

Immigration even looked into chartering a plane just for the deportations so they would not have to take separate flights, but cost was again a barrier.

“We're satisfied we have done everything we can,” she said.

As for the threat of SARS, she said the escorting officers had sat through a presentation on precautions they should take and gone through a Government checklist, have equipment to take with them, and have visited the travel clinic to ensure they have all the required shots against other diseases.

“That was a major concern of ours,” she said, adding it was also the reason the escorting officers were stopping in Thailand instead of going on all the way to China. “We are satisfied we have taken all the necessary precautions to minimise the risk.”

The three Chinese deportees were expected to leave Bermuda today, Saturday and Sunday.