KUALA LUMPUR: More than two million registered foreign workers are in Malaysia, says the Home Minister.
Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that these workers are registered with the Immigration Department and work in seven main sectors: manufacturing, construction, services, plantations, agriculture, domestic helpers, and mining and quarrying.
He said that after enforcement operations nationwide, 41,073 undocumented migrants were arrested.
"As of Nov 13, a total of 17,745 enforcement operations have been carried out by the Immigration Department nationwide," he said in his written reply to Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Abd Muttalib (PN-Maran).
1,589 employers, he added, were also arrested for immigration offences.
He also said that this year, Malaysia had received a million foreign visitors and 41,234 foreign visitors were arrested and placed in immigration detention depots.
This is an increase in detainees from last year, which was 27,739.
He said the Immigration Department has established several control procedures to ensure the validity of foreign visitors.
These included requiring foreign visitors to fill out a Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC), having a return ticket and preventing those with suspicion or blacklisted from entering the country.
He added that the Immigration Department conducts enforcement operations at 224 hotspot locations identified as foreign nationals gathering points to detect, arrest, prosecute and expel those violating national laws' provisions.
