nation's capital, Paramaribo. Meanwhile officials are waiting for the green light to commence with the deportation of these Mennonites. Justice and Safety Minister Harish Monorath explained that the authorities decided to take action after the Mennonites had repeatedly been ordered to vacate the area. He explained that most of the people are from neighboring Brazil while some of them are from Bolivia and Mexico. The Mennonites quickly hired a lawyer to freeze the attempts to have them deported. “They were first told to leave the area in July”, said Minister Monorath. The minister pointed out that there are three reasons for the eviction. The residency status of these Mennonites is not clear, they do not have a work permit and they also do not have permission to conduct activities in the area where they were detected. Several Mennonites could not present a passport. Minister Monorath pointed out that they claimed that their passports were in the hands of the heads of the families who could not be reached. The Mennonites were then given two options: they could present their documents in the city or they could leave the area. When they failed to comply, the authorities once again ordered them to leave. During the first attempt to evict the Mennonites, the authorities were confronted with a lawsuit that was aimed at freezing the operation. The lawyer of the Mennonites had filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping the eviction but the judge rejected it so the authorities went to the area to pick up the group and bring them to  Paramaribo. According to Minister Monorath, Immigration Services does not have any documents which indicate that these foreigners have filed a request for a residency permit. Some of these Mennonites have already been in Suriname for about a year. “Four of these persons have a tourist card which will expire mid November. The tourist card is not a work permit. The authorities had repeatedly given these people the opportunity to comply.”