Malaysia detains more than 7,000 illegal immigrants in 50 days

The country's Immigration Department has detained a total of 7,043 illegal immigrants in Malaysia in the 50 days from January 1 to February 19 of this year. Although the operation was conducted against citizens of various countries, it was not reported how many people from each country were detained.

"More coordinated and targeted operations are being conducted continuously to strictly enforce immigration laws," said Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli, deputy director-general (operations) of the Malaysian Immigration Department, in a statement. "There will be no compromise against those who violate laws and regulations."

He said that during the scheduled period, the law enforcement branch conducted a total of 1,855 operations. In these operations, 30,177 people were examined and tested. Of these, 7,043 people were detained for being in the country illegally.

A maximum of 4,804 cases were filed against the detainees under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, which applies to the offence of staying without a valid pass or travel document. In addition, 1,250 cases were filed under Section 15(1)(c), for overstaying.

Another 806 cases were registered under Rule 39(B) of the Immigration Rules, 1963, which pertained to breach of conditions of passage. The remaining 183 cases were registered under other offences.

The detained foreign nationals include citizens of Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, India, and China.

The Immigration Department said that such operations will continue vigorously in the future to maintain law and order and security in the country. At the same time, it has urged the general public to report to the authorities if they have specific information about violations of immigration laws.