Kota Kinabalu: Some 187 illegal immigrants were detained in three separate operations conducted by the Sabah Immigration Department on Wednesday.
The operations were carried out in two squatter areas and a construction site in Inanam, Luyang and Telipok.
Sabah Immigration Director Datuk SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yusoff said the simultaneous operations from 1am involved 108 officers and personnel.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});She said a total of 260 individuals were inspected, resulting in 187 of them detained for committing offences under the Immigration Act.
“Those arrested comprise 41 men, 43 women, 56 boys and 46 girls from the Philippines as well as an Indonesian,” she said in a statement.
Sitti said all detained were taken to the Kota Kinabalu Enforcement Division Office for the documentation process as well as further investigations under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not having identification documents.
According to her, the department has conducted a total of 765 operations this year.
She said some 15,092 individuals were inspected in the operations, with 2,777 illegals detained, while 6,290 individuals have been repatriated to their countries of origin.
She urged the public to channel information related to illegal immigrants to the department for immediate action.
Members of the public, especially employers, are advised not to protect or employ illegal immigrants as they would face legal action.
“We will continue to carry out enforcement operations to track down, arrest, charge and repatriate illegal immigrants,” she said.
