JAKARTA - Sabah Immigration said in a Facebook post that it arrested 91 undocumented migrants after screening 373 people in enforcement operations across Kota Kinabalu, Kudat, Tawau and Ranau. The operations took place late on June 24.
The department said the operations included Ops Selera, Ops Belanja, Ops Serkap, Ops Sapu and Ops Kutip. The detainees were suspected of offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63, including not having valid travel documents and breaching pass conditions, according to Sabah Media’s June 26 report.
Kota Kinabalu recorded the largest number of arrests. Officers screened 151 people and detained 46 foreigners, including 43 Filipinos, two Indonesian men and one Pakistani man. The Filipino detainees comprised 14 adult men, 18 adult women, four boys and seven girls.
“The enforcement team also detained two Indonesian men and one Pakistani man,” the statement said, as quoted on The Star’s report.
In Kudat, officers screened 46 people and detained nine Filipinos. In Tawau, a joint operation with the Road Transport Department and the National Anti-Drugs Agency screened 159 people and detained 23 foreigners, comprising Filipinos and Indonesians.
Ranau recorded 13 arrests after officers screened 17 people. Sabah Media said those detained in Ranau comprised seven Filipino adult men, two Indonesian adult men, two Indonesian adult women, one Indonesian boy and one Indonesian girl. All detainees were taken to immigration depots for documentation and further investigation.
The June 24 sweep followed other immigration enforcement activity in Malaysia this year. Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said on May 19 that the department had deported 19,700 undocumented migrants as of May 14 after they were held at immigration depots for offences under immigration laws and regulations.
Zakaria said Indonesians made up the largest group deported in the year to May 14, with 7,936 people. The next largest groups were Myanmar nationals at 4,005, Bangladeshis at 2,453, Filipinos at 1,825 and Thais at 1,008.
The department had also carried out 4,785 enforcement operations nationwide as of May 15, involving checks on 69,406 people and the detention of 16,681 foreigners.
