JOHOR BARU: Malaysia’s repatriation programmes have resulted in nearly 46,000 foreign nationals being sent home to date, easing overcrowding at immigration depots.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the department would intensify repatriation efforts to ease congestion at its 18 depots nationwide.
He said 45,597 people were sent home in the first nine months of this year.
“We are also arranging for the transfer of some 5,000 Myanmar detainees from our depots using Myanmar naval vessels,” he told The Star.
Besides the 18 immigration depots, Zakaria said the country had two temporary immigration depots and seven Baitul Mahabbah centres, which provide temporary shelter.
The depots and centres have a combined maximum capacity of 21,610 detainees nationwide.
Zakaria said Malaysia had several repatriation programmes – the Migrant Optimised Verification and Exit (MOVE) programme, Migrant Repatriation Programme (PRM) and a scheme to facilitate the return of Indonesian prisoners upon completion of their jail sentences.
“MOVE facilitates the direct repatriation of foreign prisoners from prisons to their countries of origin following a maximum stay of 10 days at immigration depots.
“Meanwhile, PRM enables eligible undocumented migrants to return voluntarily to their countries of origin without facing prosecution for certain immigration offences,” he said.
Zakaria said repatriation could be delayed by additional nationality verification requirements and the slow issuance of travel documents by foreign embassies.
“A key factor depends on how quickly the detainees’ home-country embassies can verify their citizenship and issue travel documents, such as emergency certificates or passports,” he explained.
“In more complex cases, especially those involving stateless individuals or Rohingya detainees, the lack of formal recognition of their nationality by the countries concerned poses significant legal and practical challenges.
“This may prevent the issuance of the necessary travel documents, limiting our ability to facilitate their repatriation.”
He said prolonged detention could also pose security challenges, particularly in maintaining a safe and orderly environment for detainees and officers on duty.
On another matter, Zakaria said the department was on track to meet its RM5bil revenue target for the year.
“We collected RM3.766bil in the first seven months, achieving 75.3% of our target,” he said, adding that the foreign worker levy was the largest revenue source, contributing RM2.59bil or 68.8% of the total.
Other sources included passport applications and renewals (RM238.8mil), work permits for non-citizens (RM226.5mil), visit pass processing fees (RM220.9mil), compounds (RM208.7mil), immigration service processing fees (RM167.3mil) and visa fees (RM70.3mil).
Under Budget 2027, the department was allocated RM1.415bil for operating expenditure, he said.
He said the allocation would go towards the department’s core functions, particularly enforcement, detainee management and modernisation of systems and technology.
The department would also expand its use of digital technologies, including exploring artificial intelligence, to improve immigration management, data analysis and enforcement effectiveness, he added.
