KUALA LUMPUR - Kedah immigration officers detained 34 undocumented migrants at a poultry farm in Jitra during an operation that began late on July 17, the department said in a report published by Bernama on July 18.
The operation started at 11 p.m. and continued into early July 18. A team of 58 officers inspected two premises and checked 41 people. The personnel came from the Kedah and Perlis immigration departments, the Labour Department and the National Registration Department.
Those detained comprised 31 men and three women aged between 19 and 52. The group included 23 Myanmar nationals, eight Bangladeshis and three Indonesians. The department specified that the Myanmar nationals comprised 20 men and three women.
“Of that total, 23 were Myanmar nationals, comprising 20 men and three women, followed by eight Bangladeshis and three Indonesians,” the department said.
The department said the detainees were believed to have entered Malaysia without valid documents or remained after their permits expired. The group was taken to the Belantik Immigration Depot in Sik for documentation and further investigation.
The Jitra operation followed separate raids in Kuala Muda and Kota Setar reported on July 15. Kedah immigration officers detained 29 foreign nationals after checking 124 people at four premises. Those detained included nationals of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, and were also taken to the Belantik depot.
National figures indicate the scale of immigration enforcement beyond Kedah. Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said officers detained 36,900 foreign nationals during 6,237 operations from January 1 to June 30.
The department screened 84,464 people and detained 978 employers suspected of immigration-related offences during the same period.
