KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 18,000 undocumented migrants, including children were held in detention centres, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The Home Minister said that the Immigration Department had detained approximately 17,896 undocumented migrants across its 20 facilities, which include 18 permanent Immigration Depots and two Temporary Detention Depots.
Saifuddin said that 10.4% of the detainees were children under the age of 18, all of whom were accompanied by at least one parent.
He added that child detainees were held at six centres, known as Baitul Mahabbah.
“As of July 6, 2025, the detainee population was recorded at 17,896, comprising 78% male (13,992 individuals) and 22% female (3,974 individuals).
“In terms of nationality, four countries account for 90.7% of the detainees with Myanmar at 41.6%(7,453 individuals), the Philippines (21.5% with 3,839 individuals), Indonesia (21.3% with 3,817 individuals), and Bangladesh (6.3% with 1,136 individuals),” he said in a Parliamentary written reply.
Earlier, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar) had asked to state the total number of immigration detainees, including children.
He also said that the detention centres have a full capacity of 21,530 individuals.
