PUTRAJAYA, May 28 — Foreigners whose visa or social passes expired during the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) will not face any legal action, said Senior Minister (security cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said they had two options, namely, the first one, for those who wanted to return to their countries of origin, they could do so by showing their flight tickets at the airport.
“As we all know all Immigration offices nationwide are closed during the MCO period and I would like to stress that they will not face any legal action (if their visas or social visit passes expired during the period).
“The second option is, if they are keen to stay longer in the country, they will only need to request for an appointment date via the Immigration Department’s online appointment application (STO),” he said at a daily press conference on the conditional movement control order (CMCO) here today.
Ismail Sabri also stressed that the STO was only to apply for the new date and not to renew their visas or social visit passes.
“The STO’s application is for the Immigration Department to set an appointment date for them to come and renew their visas to enable them to return to their respective countries, at any time,” he said.
Meanwhile, in another development, Ismail Sabri said a total of 4,399 undocumented immigrants who were placed at the Immigration detention centres in Bukit Jalil, Semenyih and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Sepang, had completed Covid-19 screening, and 13 of them who were in Semenyih were still waiting for the test results.
“In addition, 353 officers and personnel at the centres were also screened. One staff in Semenyih has tested positive for Covid-19,” he said.
He said the Covid-19 Low-Risk Patient Quarantine and Treatment Centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (Maeps) Serdang had begun operations to treat illegal immigrants tested positive for the virus.
As of today, 354 illegal immigrants – 305 from Bukit Jalil, Semenyih (45) and KLIA (four) – were receiving treatment at Maeps, he said.
He also said that illegal immigrants who had undergone Covid-19 screening and tested negative would be sent home to their respective countries.
He also thanked three countries, namely Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh for agreeing with the government’s proposal to send the immigrants home.
“The Foreign Ministry will discuss with its counterparts in the three countries over the move.
“Wisma Putra has also sent notes to all embassies involving their people who are placed in the Immigration detention centres,” he said.
— Bernama
