JOHOR BARU: Two Filipino children have been rescued from a factory in Senai after being exploited and forced to work for several months.
Johor Immigration Department director Datuk Mohd Rusdi Mohd Darus said the two children, aged 12 and 13, were among 292 people inspected in a raid under Ops Mahir on Thursday (Dec 19).
"We found 128 foreigners, including 54 women, working in the factory illegally.
"We also found two children, a boy and a girl, who have been working for about two to three months at the factory," he said in a statement on Saturday (Dec 21).
He said that a 44-year-old man, who is the human resource officer of the factory, was also arrested under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act.
"Both victims have been taken to the Setia Tropika Immigration office for further action," he said.
He said the raid was conducted after four foreigners, in a previous operation, admitted to working in a factory using fake Malaysian identity cards.
He added the raid was carried out after two days of surveillance.
"Of the 128 foreigners arrested, five were found in possession of Malaysian identity cards," he said.
He said that the suspects are being investigated under the Immigration Act and Immigration Regulations and have been sent to the Immigration depot in Pekan Nenas.
"The National Registration Department is also investigating the five suspects under Regulation 25 of the National Registration Regulations for possessing and using identity cards belonging to others," he said.
In a separate operation, Mohd Rusdi said Immigration on Thursday (Dec 19) also raided a transit house in Larkin Indah for illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
He said this was after the arrest of a Bangladeshi man, believed to have been smuggled into the country via the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex.
"The human smuggling is believed to have started two months ago. The syndicate charged RM13,000 each to smuggle a person from Bangladesh to Malaysia through Singapore," he said.
He said two Bangladeshi men in the house were arrested.
"The two suspects, aged 37 and 42, are believed to be caretakers and middlemen for the syndicate.
"Also seized were Bangladesh passports, cash amounting to RM14,500 and a car," he said, adding that the case was being investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and the Passport Act 1966.
