Passenger traffic at international ports across China remained high during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday, as people of Chinese ancestry, returning to participate in annual traditions, joined the steadily growing inflow of international travelers.
Falling on April 5 this year, Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese festival for honoring the deceased and paying tribute to ancestors.
During this Qingming holiday, ports in east China's Jiangsu Province are expected to inspect and clear approximately 34,000 cross-border travelers. Returning home for tomb sweeping, taking parent-child educational trips, and going on cross-border spring outings have become the primary purposes of travel.
"I came to Wuxi City this time because I wanted to see the cherry blossoms at Yuantouzhu. The new direct flight route from Kuala Lumpur to Wuxi is very fast, and China's 30-day visa-free policy for Malaysia is very convenient," said a Malaysian traveler surnamed Chen.
In Shenzhen City, south China's Guangdong Province, average daily passenger traffic during this Qingming holiday is expected to reach 990,000, potentially breaking historical peak records, with the single-day peak possibly exceeding 1.13 million.
At Shenzhen's Liantang Port, many cycling enthusiasts from Shenzhen and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) crossed the border with their bicycles.
The border inspection authorities have deployed new temporary inspection platforms to facilitate rapid clearance during peak hours.
"Very efficient, very quick and we just love cycling through here. It's very easy to cross and very convenient," said a foreign tourist named Jagdish.
China's ports see high passenger traffic during Qingming holiday
Humanitarian pressures for migrants are spreading across the Iran as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies, according to the International Organization of Migration (IOM).
Iran hosts a large number of Afghans, with round 4.5 million Afghans working and living there, making it one of the largest migrant hosting countries in the world.
Salvador Gutierrez, representative of the IOM in Iran, said numerous migrants remain excluded from essential public services, with women, children and the elderly particularly at risk.
"We have an increase of the vulnerabilities of all the migrants, particularly the elderly, the children, the women. And as I already mentioned, most of these migrants have already lost their jobs. And they do not have this protection network. They don't have families here. And in several cases, they are also concerned because many of these migrants are irregular migrants, and they do not have access to all the services that the national population has. So, they are struggling much more," he said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) via video link in Tehran on Thursday.
He said the IOM is working with Iranian authorities to track population movements, assess needs, and deliver emergency assistance on the ground.
"We are coordinating with the government to assess the needs that the population has. We are also conducting these activities related to tracking the mobility, and also monitoring how the flow is in the different borders of the country. We are providing direct support and to migrants, to refugees, to IDPs (internally displaced persons), and also to stranded migrants. So, we are here delivering on the ground and monitoring the situation and even calling all the different countries to support this humanitarian response, which is deeply needed in the country," said Gutierrez.
Rising tensions deepen humanitarian strain for migrants in Iran: expert
