After the amnesty, Kuala Lumpur goes after illegal immigrants
Between 2014 and 28 August of this year, 867,336 illegal immigrants were driven out of the country thanks to the amnesty. Since the start of this year, the Immigration Department has conducted 9,449 operations and checked 116,270 foreigners, resulting in 29,040 irregular workers detained. Among the detainees, 9,759 are from Indonesia, 5,959 from Bangladesh, 2,830 from the Philippines and 2,715 from Myanmar.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Malaysian government has launched a large-scale operation against illegal immigration, starting today, Independence Day (Hari Merdeka), a day after the end of a four-year amnesty for irregular foreign workers.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said that the operation, dubbed Ops Mega 3.0, is targeted at syndicates involved in “modern-day slavery”.
The operation will see the Immigration Department work with other agencies and ministries, as well as foreign embassies, he added.
Between 2014 and 28 August of this year, a total of 867,336 illegal immigrants signed up for the amnesty programme and returned to their home countries.
The latter enabled illegal immigrants to pay a RM300 (US$ 75) fine and RM100 (US$ 25) for a special pass that allows them to return to their respective countries. In total, some RM400 million in fines were collected.
Starting today, “our efforts will only increase as we aim to free the country of illegal immigrants," Mustafar said.
Since the start of this year, his department has conducted 9,449 enforcement operations and checked 116,270 foreigners, resulting in 29,040 irregular workers and 879 employers detained.
Among the countries of origin of those sent home, Indonesia leads the way with 9,759, followed by Bangladesh (5,959), the Philippines (2,820) and Myanmar (2,715),” he said.
In addition to the illegal immigrants who signed up for the government programme, another million is estimated to be working in the country illegally. The latter are occasionally targeted by the authorities.
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17/01/2017 14:47
