JOHOR BARU: Two children are among 42 undocumented migrants rounded up by the Immigration Department during a two-day operation conducted in several Johor districts.
State Immigration director Baharuddin Tahir said they were found to be staying and working in the country without any permits or passes while some had overstayed.
“We carried out raids at 52 premises around Johor Baru, Muar and Batu Pahat on Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb 6 and 7) following public complaints about the presence of foreigners at these locations.
“During the operation, a total of 224 foreigners, including locals, were screened, and we hauled up 42 of them for various offences,” he said here on Thursday (Feb 8).
Baharuddin added that 26 Myanmar nationals, including six women and a boy, were among those detained in the operation.
“The other detainees include four women and one boy from Indonesia, six Bangladeshi men, three Nepali men, one male Indian national and one female Vietnamese national,” he said.
Those detained range in age from three to 52 years, he added.
Baharuddin said their alleged offences include breaches of Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not having any valid passport or permit to be in Malaysia, Section 15(1)(c) of the Act for overstaying, and Rule 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 for violating the terms of their visit passes.
“We also issued six notices to their employers during the operation to assist with the investigations,” he added.
Baharuddin said the department would increase enforcement throughout Johor, especially at known hotspots for undocumented foreigners to gather.
He warned employers and premises owners who took in those without proper papers that they also stood to face strict action.
