TAWAU: A total of 227 illegal Indonesian immigrants who were held at the Immigration Detention Centres in Kota Kinabalu and Papar were deported via Tawau Port to Nunukan Port, Tunon Taka Terminal, Indonesia yesterday.

Sabah Immigration Department director, Datuk Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said that the deportation process involved detainees aged between two and 82, comprising 107 men, 71 women, and 49 children, who travelled on the Purnama Express and Labuan Express ferries.

“This is the 19th series of deportation programmes for unauthorised immigrants by sea for the year 2024. They were detained for various offences under the Immigration Act 1959/1963 and Immigration Regulations 1963,” she said in a statement today.

She added that the deportation programme was carried out in collaboration with the Consulate General of Indonesia in Kota Kinabalu and the Indonesian Consulate in Tawau.