Foreigners committed over 42,000 crimes in Malaysia since 2016, says Home Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have recorded a total of 42,451 criminal cases involving foreigners between 2016 and August this year, says the Home Ministry.

"From the total, the most common crime committed by foreign nationals was theft with a total of 12,647 cases, followed by house break-ins with 11,862 cases and motorcycle theft involving 4,822 cases," said the Ministry in a written reply to Ahmad Amzad Mohamed @ Hashim (PAS-Kuala Terengganu), who had asked for statistics of crimes committed by foreigners in the country.

The Home Ministry said that to ensure that foreigners were not involved in crime and social problems, police have taken various continuous steps and efforts, including operations at various locations identified as hubs for syndicates.

The police also conduct patrols at popular public areas, added the Ministry.

"The presence of uniformed policemen at strategic spots will act as a deterrent to criminals," said the Ministry.

"Continuous efforts by the police have had a positive impact and criminal index statistics in general involving foreigners have shown a drop from 13,110 cases in 2016 to 11,441 cases in 2017 and 10,751 cases in 2018," said the Home Ministry.