KUALA TERENGGANU: The Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) in Terengganu has detained 1,306 foreign nationals for various offences in the first ten months of this year.
Its director, Mohd Yusri Mohd Nor said the majority of the detainees were from Bangladesh and Indonesia, and their arrest was the result of inspections conducted on 7,306 individuals during 815 operations carried out by the department.
He said the offences included violations under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155) for overstaying and Section 6(1)(c) of the same Act for not possessing any valid pass or permit to be in Malaysia.
“Other offences include breaches under Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963, such as violating pass or permit conditions. For instance, a permit might allow someone to work as a cook, but they work as construction labourers instead,” he explained during a press conference, here today.
Mohd Yusri said JIM also arrested 46 employers in the same period, with 22 of them charged under Section 55B of the same Act for hiring foreign nationals without valid permits. Additionally, 43 cases involved employers found to have allowed illegal immigrants to enter or reside at their premises, an offence under Section 55E of the Act.
He said since January, 1,922 illegal immigrants had been deported in stages, with the cost of repatriation borne by the individuals themselves and their respective governments.
The department also received 2,147 applications from illegal immigrants who voluntarily surrendered and sought to return to their home countries through the Migrant Repatriation Programme.
