KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — The Immigration Department has detained 4,026 illegal immigrants via 870 enforcement operations nationwide in the first 18 days of this year, said its director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.
During the same period, the department also inspected 9,169 foreigners, deported 1,497 illegal immigrants back to their respective countries, and arrested 42 employers for employing illegal immigrants.
“Employers who are found to be employing illegal immigrants can be punished under the Immigration Act including the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007,” he said during a press conference after participating in a raid at the Baiduri Apartment in Taman Tasik Kesuma Beranang, Semenyih last night.
On the operation, Ruslin said the location was one of the 220 illegal immigration hotspots on the department’s radar.
In the midnight operation, 752 foreigners were inspected and 561 immigrants arrested. They include 205 from Bangladesh, 200 from Myanmar, 65 from Nepal, 43 from Indonesia, 38 from Pakistan, three from Sri Lanka, two each from Cambodia, India, and Sierra Leone, and one from Cameroon.
The illegal immigrants, aged between three months and 55, had overstayed and possessed no travel documents.
— Bernama
