KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Affairs Ministry does not plan to follow the United States in its policy of deporting illegal immigrants to their countries of origin with a new, tougher policy to stem the influx of foreigners into the country.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (pic) said this is because the ministry is constantly improving procedures to enforce immigration regulations to control the presence of illegal immigrants in the country.
“Among the improvements that this ministry has and is currently implementing together with its agencies include control before entry into the country and the use of technology in controlling the country’s entry points,” he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Negara yesterday, Bernama reported.
He said this in response to a question from Senator Azahar Hassan.
Responding to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Azhar Ahmad, who wanted to know the number of illegal immigrants detained this year and the number deported to their country of origin, Shamsul Anuar said from Jan 1 to March 10 the Immigration Department carried out more than 2,670 enforcement operations involving the arrest of 9,904 illegal immigrants.
“These arrests involved foreigners from various countries and 348 employers for various immigration offences under the Immigration Act and immigration regulations.
“For the period up to March 9 this year, the total number of deportations from immigration depots was 9,199 people,” he said.
