GALAPAGOS EXPELS CITIZENS BUT NOT TOURISTS
Growth in population and tourism contaminate the islands' environment with alien species and pollution. But some say tourists, not citizens, should be kept out.
By Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, October 8, 2008
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR - A few weeks ago, 19 Ecuadorean citizens detained on these world-renowned islands were marched onto a plane and sent back to the continent under armed guard. Their crime? Illegal migration. So far this year, the government has expelled 1,000 of its citizens from the Galapagos, a living laboratory of unique animal and plant species, who were there without residency and work permits. It has also "normalized" 2,000 others, in effect giving most of them a year to leave.
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