THE aggressive operations conducted by the Sabah Immigration Department in hunting down illegal immigrants during the first four months this year has nothing to do with the coming state election.
Sabah Immigration Director Datuk Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the operations are part of routine duties and the department’s ongoing commitment as an enforcement agency.
“I refute claims by certain parties questioning whether the department’s intensified operations are linked to the coming state election.
“We want them to stop making baseless accusations, implying that we have hidden agendas in our enforcement duties,” she told a media conference.
The conference was held following the successful two-day Ops Mahir and Ops Sapu operations carried out in Semporna.
Sitti Saleha said these operations were part of the department’s responsibility to safeguard national sovereignty, not political interests.
“We have Key Performance Indicators to meet and we also ensure that public complaints are thoroughly investigated before follow-up actions are taken,” she said.
She said the operations are part of a continuous effort to track down illegal immigrants, those who overstay and those who abuse their passports and visas.
As of April 4 this year, a total of 465 operations were conducted, resulting in 8,980 individuals screened, a total of 1,440 arrests made and 37 employers charged for various immigration offences.
Additionally, 53 deportation exercises were carried out, sending back 3,528 foreigners, whereby 3,416 are via sea and 112 by air.
