PENANG now has a new detention centre for illegal migrants that is almost three times larger than the existing facility.
Jawi Immigration Depot and Quarters can cater to 1,200 Immigration detainees, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
It will replace the Juru Detention Depot, which is also on mainland Penang, that can only hold 500 detainees.
Saifuddin said the facility spanning 6.07ha cost RM77.5mil to build.
“It has just been completed by Public Works Department and will begin housing detainees from Nov 26.
“It houses a detention complex, court and quarters for immigration officers,” he said after touring the facility.
Saifuddin said the plan was to relocate current detainees to the new depot.
“There are currently 233 male and 133 female detainees at the Juru Immigration Depot.
“They are being detained for violating the Immigration Act such as misusing visas, entering without documents and overstaying.”
He said along with the detainees, 118 Immigration staff would be relocated to the Jawi depot.
Saifuddin said construction of the facility began in May 2019 and it was scheduled to be completed in three years, but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said there was no issue with overcrowding at Immigration detention depots in the country as detainees’ stays were temporary.
“We are still below the set capacity of 20,000 people in all depots nationwide.
“There are currently some 14,000 offenders.”
He said when foreigners went through the court process for the offence of overstaying, for example, the authorities would proceed with prosecution and blacklist them, preventing them from returning to Malaysia.
“Once they have finished serving their sentences, we place them at the depots temporarily before they are sent to their countries of origin, depending on how quickly their travel documents are prepared.”
