PORT KLANG: The Selangor Immigration Department has detained 197 foreign workers through two raids involving a motorcycle battery factory and a storage warehouse that are still active in the district.
Selangor Immigration deputy director Mohmad Khusairi Kamarudin said the operation, which began at 9am, targeted business premises in the Pulau Indah Industrial Area and the Bandar Sultan Suleiman Industrial Area based on intelligence findings over the past two weeks.
"A total of 210 people were checked in this operation, which led to the arrest of 197 illegal immigrants aged between 20 and 45 years for various types of immigration offences.
"The arrests consisted of 147 men and 50 women, involving people of Myanmar (72 men, 30 women), India (58 men, 19 women), Bangladesh (nine men), Sri Lanka (four men), Pakistan (three men), one man of other nationalities and one woman of Indonesian nationality," he said after participating in the operation, here on Wednesday (Sept 9).
Based on the initial inspection results, he said the majority of the foreigners arrested were believed to be working as assistants and general workers who committed various offences including not having identification documents, violating pass conditions and overstaying under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
Meanwhile, Mohmad Khusairi said his party also issued three summonses via Form 29 to the Malaysian citizens involved to assist in the investigation.
Commenting on the arrest of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cardholders, especially Myanmar nationals, he stressed that the arrests were made due to their status of not being allowed to work legally under existing regulations.
In this regard, he reminded every employer to employ legal workers, apply through the correct channels and ensure that the workers concerned are not transferred to other workplaces without permission.
All the detainees were brought and placed at the immigration Semenyih Detention Depot for follow-up action and further investigation.
Earlier, Mohmad Khusairi also participated in the operation with 62 officers and personnel from various agencies, consisting of 50 Immigration personnel, six Employees Provident Fund (EPF) officers, four Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) personnel and two Manpower Department officers. — Bernama
