New Immigration DG to join crackdown on illegal immigrants

PUTRAJAYA: After just two days of leading the Immigration Department (JIM), its new director-general, Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, who prior to this was the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Deputy chief commissioner (Prevention), will head its enforcement operations in battling the issue of illegal immigrants in this country.

The operation that began at 11.30pm last night included 60 Putrajaya JIM enforcement officers who raided three entertainment centres in Puchong.

The JIM enforcement squad had inspected 110 individuals and detained 77 illegal immigrants as well as five Malaysian citizens, aged between 16 and 30, for various immigration offences.

The illegal immigrants detained included 56 Vietnamese, 15 Thais, a Cambodian and five Bangladesh men.

Mustafar said the operation was carried out to curb the presence of illegal immigrants or the abuse of travel documents to run immoral activities.
Speaking to reporters early this morning, he stressed on the need to address the occurrence of these illegal activities so that it would not affect the morality and culture of the country.

As such, Mustafar said JIM's next focus was to activate collaboration with various departments and agencies.

As an example, he said JIM would activate collaboration and enforcement in addressing the issue of premises not complying with business requirements, which would include the involvement of the local authority (PBT) which issues business licenses or permits.

"The National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) with other departments and agencies is constantly activated. These are the statutes that must be implemented subsequently," he emphasised.

Those detained will be brought to JIM headquarters in Putrajaya for documentation, he added. — Bernama