KOTA KINABALU: Immigration personnel were made to work extra hard before they were able to detain over 100 undocumented migrants in a midnight operation at a remote village in Sabah’s Ranau district, about 100km from here, on Saturday.
It took the 52-strong team almost an hour to reach the target location of Kampung Lutut from the town district, through a dirt road which was hilly for the most part and only accessible by four-wheel drive vehicles.
They also had to drive across three tributaries.
When the team reached the location, some undocumented migrants tried to escape and resulting in a chase and the lack of a telecommunication network made it difficult for the team to communicate with each other.
“There was a struggle between our personnel and those who attempted to escape but everything was under control and nothing untoward happened,” said Sabah Immigration director Datuk Sharifah Sitti Saleha Habib Yusoff, in a statement.
“In the end, we managed to detain 145 illegal immigrants from the 220 people screened,” she said, adding the operation ended at 7am.
The detainees comprised Filipinos and Indonesians, aged between three months and 62, she said, adding there were 62 men, 33 women and 50 children.
“Among the offences committed were the migrants were found without personal documents, overstaying and a Malaysian citizen suspected of harbouring illegals in their premises.
“The detainees will be placed at the Kota Kinabalu immigration depot for further probe and the next course of action,” Sitti Saleha said.
It is understood the Malaysian citizen has yet to be detained but is being investigated.
Sitti Saleha said more such operations to detect, arrest, charge and subsequently deport foreigners who breached immigration laws will be continuously carried out.
“We also remind the public and employers not to harbour undocumented migrants or else they will be forced to face legal action.
“Those with information to the presence and whereabouts of such migrants are urged to come forward and help the Immigration Department,” she said.
