KUALA LUMPUR: At least 500 undocumented foreigners have been detained in an operation at an apartment complex in Beranang town in Hulu Langat.
“A majority of the foreigners here have been renting the apartments, paying between RM600 and RM800 monthly, and up to 10 people would live in a unit,” said Immigration department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.
He said the Baiduri Apartments in Beranang are one of the 220 hotspots for illegal immigrants identified by authorities.
“Some 80% of the residents at the apartment complex are foreigners.
“We received complaints that the area is called ‘mini Dhaka’,” he said after the operation early yesterday morning.
Each block at the apartment complex consists of five floors, and every floor has 20 units.
Ongoing operations: Ruslin (second left) carrying out checks on the documents of foreign workers during a midnight raid at an apartment complex in Semenyih. — Bernama
said the integrated operation was conducted at about 12.05am yesterday, involving the inspection of 752 foreigners in seven blocks of the complex.
“We detained 561 foreigners comprising 27 children, 447 men and 87 women,” he said, adding that their ages ranged from three months to 55 years.
“The largest number of undocumented foreigners detained were from Bangladesh with 205 individuals, followed by Myanmar (200), Nepal (65), Indonesia (43), Pakistan (38), Sri Lanka (three), two each from India, Cambodia and Sierra Leone, and one from Cameroon,” he said.
Ruslin said 870 operations have been conducted nationwide between Jan 1 and Jan 18.
Besides going after illegal immigrants, Ruslin said the department was also focusing on employers who hire or harbour them.
“A total of 38,978 illegal immigrants were deported last year. And as of Jan 17, 1,467 of them have been deported.
“We will conduct continuous operations to ensure that foreigners have proper documents or work permits,” he added.
