Over 40,000 illegal immigrants held as of Nov 13 – KDN

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 41,073 illegal immigrants have been arrested through 17,745 enforcement operations carried out by the Immigration Department (JIM) nationwide this year, as of Nov 13, according to Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said 1,589 employers were also detained for various immigration offences during the same period.

“The Home Ministry (KDN) through JIM is committed to safeguarding the country’s security by continuously carrying out enforcement operations and preventive measures to prevent an increase in the number of illegal immigrants,“ he said in a written reply published on the Parliament website today.

“As of Oct 31, the number of foreign workers registered with JIM stood at 2,438,468, working in seven main sectors: manufacturing, construction, services, plantations, agriculture, domestic work, and mining and quarrying,“ he said.

Saifuddin Nasution said this in response to a question posed by Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Abd Muttalib (PN-Maran) regarding the current number of foreign workers and illegal immigrants in Malaysia, as well as the measures to address the issue of illegal foreign nationals entering the country.

During the same period in 2023, JIM conducted 2,762 integrated operations in collaboration with various other enforcement agencies across the country. These operations led to the arrest of 8,812 illegal immigrants and 52 employers for various immigration offences.

He said that among the actions taken to detect overstaying foreign visitors were continuous enforcement operations, including the arrest, prosecution and deportation of foreign nationals who violated the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.

In addition, action has also been taken against employers hiring illegal foreign workers.

“Throughout last year, 27,739 foreign visitors were arrested and detained in immigration detention centres across the country, while from Jan 1 to Nov 14 this year, 41,234 illegal immigrants have been placed in immigration detention depots,“ he said.