Staff Reporter: Malaysian police have detained 474 illegal foreign workers, including 78 Bangladeshis, in a New Year campaigns across the country.
Sources said that the immigration police of the country carried out 124 raids in the first two days of the New year and checked 1,871 foreigners, said Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud, Director General of the Malaysia Immigration Department.
Starting from Aug 1 of last year, illegal foreign workers were given time until the end of the year to return back home countries. A campaign is underway to arrest those who have failed.
Of those detained, Indonesians were the highest with 220, followed by China, 89, Bangladesh, 78, Myanmar, 42, the Philippines, 22, and others.
In a statement, Datuk Khairulsaid,“Action will also be taken against employers who hire illegal immigrants under the Immigration Act 1959/63.“
The department is committed to conduct large-scale continuous operations around the country, following the conclusion of the `Back For Good (B4G)` repatriation programme on Dec 31, he added.
“A total of 190,471 illegal immigrants have registered for the B4G programme. Those who failed to sign up will be rounded up,“ he said.
