102 Bangladeshis held in Malaysia

The Malaysian Immigration Department arrested 309 illegal immigrants, including 102 Bangladeshis, during an integrated operation at a settlement near a construction site in Dengkil early Monday.

The detainees also included 193 Indonesians, eight Myanmar nationals, four Vietnamese, and two Indians.

Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud, director-general of the Immigration Department, said his department had received information from members of the public who claimed that there were individuals at the settlement who were believed to have violated the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

He said, as a result, the department had raided the area and found that they did not comply with the MCO SOPs.

"I arrived with the operations team and found that their settlement was so dense, dirty and did not have a proper drainage system, apart from having a place to gather and eat in large numbers," Khairul said. "They also admitted that they lived in a group in one room, which is about four to seven people."

This showed that they were free to do anything at the construction site without any compliance with the MCO SOPs, Khairul also said. "This was the main purpose of the Home Ministry which directed the Immigration Department to help reduce positive cases of the Covid-19 outbreak at the workplace comprising immigrants."

"All these illegal immigrants will undergo the Covid-19 screening test today. After the test, they will be placed at the Semenyih Immigration Depot to be detained and investigated following Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 15 (1) (c) of the same law, before deportation," Khairul said.

During the operation, the Immigration Department also inspected 10 Rohingya refugees who are the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) cardholders.

"Out of 10 the UNHCR cardholders, only two of them were arrested for possessing fake UNHCR cards while the others were released," Khairul said.

On June 6, the Immigration Department detained 156 immigrants, including 62 Bangladeshis, during an integrated operation at an illegal settlement in Cyberjaya city.

The detainees also included Indonesian, Myanmarese, Nepali, Pakistani and Indian nationals.

Khairul said: "Two hundred and two immigrants from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and India, including 12 women and two children were checked."

"However, 156 of them were detained for not having valid travel and identification documents before being taken to the Immigration Department's screening centre in Putrajaya for further action," he added, reports UNB.