Immigration: 61 out of 67 illegals nabbed at illegal settlement in Nilai sent home on Feb 23

SEREMBAN: A total of 61 out of the 67 undocumented migrants found living in an illegal settlement in Nilai Springs earlier this month were repatriated on Thursday (Feb 23), says state Immigration director Kennith Tan Aik Kiang.

He said seven of those sent back were adult males, while there were 18 women, and 36 children.

"We have sent them back and also blacklisted all of them.

"Those sent back were children and their parents," he said in a statement.

Tan said five others were charged in court on Feb 16 for Immigration-related offences and were each jailed between eight and 10 months.

Those detained were probed under the Immigration Act 1959/63, Passport Act 1966 and Immigration Rules 1963 for not having a valid travel document, overstaying and related offences.

He said one was released after he registered under the department's Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0 (RTK 2.0) which allows employers to register illegal foreign workers.

He said the department was still investigating the case, including the action to be taken against the landowner where the settlement was built.

Immigration personnel, in a joint operation with several other agencies, had carried out the raid at around 1.30am on Feb 1.

Those detained were aged between two months and 72.

The teams had to walk 1.2km to reach the settlement, which was located in a secluded area near the Negri Sembilan-Selangor border.

Their homes were located within a triangular piece of land with the Elite Highway running behind and a high-voltage pylon line and the jungle on its sides, making the hideout a safe haven accessible only on foot or by four-wheel drive vehicles.

Their dwellings were powered by several generators and the foreigners probably got their drinking water supply from a nearby clear water stream.

There was also a school-like facility in the settlement where the children were taught the Indonesian syllabus.