Thread: Malaysia: 1,000 nabbed as KL begins crackdown on illegal aliens

1,000 nabbed as KL begins crackdown on illegal migrants

Malaysia launches nationwide raid, plans to deport 400,000 in largest clampdown to date

2 hours 4 min ago
Kuala Lumpur

PUTRAJAYA — The Malaysian authorities arrested about 1,000 migrant workers yesterday as the country launched a large-scale immigration operation to flush out and swiftly deport nearly half a million illegal foreign workers, its largest crackdown to date on low-wage migrant labour at plantations and factories.

The move signals the government’s resolve to separate the legal from the undocumented immigrant workforce in an effort to cut surplus labour and trim a huge social cost arising from hosting a large population of foreigners, who make up more than 16 per cent of the total workforce in the nation of 29 million people.

“In the first phase of this operation that will continue until this year-end, we plan to arrest and deport about 400,000 illegal immigrants and arrest about 45,000 employers of such workers,” said Mr Saravana Kumar, Deputy Director at Malaysia’s Immigration Department.

About 1,000 migrant workers were arrested across the country yesterday, said Mr Saravana, adding that employers who hire illegal immigrants can be fined up to RM50,000 (S$19,400) or face jail time of up to five years or six strokes of the cane, or all three.

Malaysia has telegraphed the raids for more than a week and it is unclear how many migrants may have fled before they began. The country is a magnet for migrants from neighbouring Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and South Asian nations such as Nepal and Bangladesh.

The latest drive is targeting those who had registered under an amnesty programme for illegal immigrants launched two years ago but never showed up for further processing, which could have included legalisation or voluntary deportation. About 1.3 million of an estimated two million illegal foreign workers had registered. Of them, about 500,000 were legalised and 330,000 were repatriated.

Hosting a huge foreign workforce strains public services such as security, health, transportation and education. Malaysia has been tightening employment rules for unskilled foreign workers. Migrant workers totalled nearly 1.6 million in 2011, down 23 per cent from two million in 2007, Ministry of Human Resources data shows.

“The economy is softening, growth is moderating, and this makes it an ideal time to shed the excess illegal foreign workers,” said Dr Shankaran Nambiar, Senior Research Fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.

A team of 150 officers from the Immigration Department, led by deputy director Saravana Kumar, yesterday went on pre-dawn raids around the administrative capital Putrajaya and detained 71 foreigners without valid documents.

Raids nationwide would include squats, farms, entertainment and massage parlours, he said.

In one swoop on a rickety settlement on the fringes of a palm plantation, the arrival of a convoy triggered a chaotic rush among residents, some of whom tried to escape to a neighbouring forest. Most were soon caught. Groups huddled meekly in handcuffs as their identities were checked.

“I have never experienced such a thing in the past six years that I have been working in Malaysia,” said Mr Manik Sheikh, a Bangladeshi, who waited patiently. He was later released.

The often-illiterate workers can find themselves caught between potentially unscrupulous employment agencies and the risk of being apprehended by immigration authorities. This leaves them vulnerable to wage theft and mistreatment. DOW JONES

http://www.todayonline.com/world/asi...legal-migrants

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

1,000 nabbed as KL begins crackdown on illegal migrants

Malaysia launches nationwide raid, plans to deport 400,000 in largest clampdown to date

2 hours 4 min ago
Kuala Lumpur

PUTRAJAYA — The Malaysian authorities arrested about 1,000 migrant workers yesterday as the country launched a large-scale immigration operation to flush out and swiftly deport nearly half a million illegal foreign workers, its largest crackdown to date on low-wage migrant labour at plantations and factories.

The move signals the government’s resolve to separate the legal from the undocumented immigrant workforce in an effort to cut surplus labour and trim a huge social cost arising from hosting a large population of foreigners, who make up more than 16 per cent of the total workforce in the nation of 29 million people.

“In the first phase of this operation that will continue until this year-end, we plan to arrest and deport about 400,000 illegal immigrants and arrest about 45,000 employers of such workers,” said Mr Saravana Kumar, Deputy Director at Malaysia’s Immigration Department.

About 1,000 migrant workers were arrested across the country yesterday, said Mr Saravana, adding that employers who hire illegal immigrants can be fined up to RM50,000 (S$19,400) or face jail time of up to five years or six strokes of the cane, or all three.

Malaysia has telegraphed the raids for more than a week and it is unclear how many migrants may have fled before they began. The country is a magnet for migrants from neighbouring Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and South Asian nations such as Nepal and Bangladesh.

The latest drive is targeting those who had registered under an amnesty programme for illegal immigrants launched two years ago but never showed up for further processing, which could have included legalisation or voluntary deportation. About 1.3 million of an estimated two million illegal foreign workers had registered. Of them, about 500,000 were legalised and 330,000 were repatriated.

Hosting a huge foreign workforce strains public services such as security, health, transportation and education. Malaysia has been tightening employment rules for unskilled foreign workers. Migrant workers totalled nearly 1.6 million in 2011, down 23 per cent from two million in 2007, Ministry of Human Resources data shows.

“The economy is softening, growth is moderating, and this makes it an ideal time to shed the excess illegal foreign workers,” said Dr Shankaran Nambiar, Senior Research Fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.

A team of 150 officers from the Immigration Department, led by deputy director Saravana Kumar, yesterday went on pre-dawn raids around the administrative capital Putrajaya and detained 71 foreigners without valid documents.

Raids nationwide would include squats, farms, entertainment and massage parlours, he said.

In one swoop on a rickety settlement on the fringes of a palm plantation, the arrival of a convoy triggered a chaotic rush among residents, some of whom tried to escape to a neighbouring forest. Most were soon caught. Groups huddled meekly in handcuffs as their identities were checked.

“I have never experienced such a thing in the past six years that I have been working in Malaysia,” said Mr Manik Sheikh, a Bangladeshi, who waited patiently. He was later released.

The often-illiterate workers can find themselves caught between potentially unscrupulous employment agencies and the risk of being apprehended by immigration authorities. This leaves them vulnerable to wage theft and mistreatment. DOW JONES

http://www.todayonline.com/world/asi...legal-migrants

good nabbed more the US has many More to crackdown on illegal immigrants it not only Mexico it China & all of the other country also

Malaysia

414 foreigners, local detained in “Ops Bersepadu 6P” in Melaka

September 1, 2013

MELAKA, Sept 1 — A total of 414 foreign immigrants were detained in a six-hour operation from midnight under "Ops Bersepadu 6P" in Melaka.

State Immigration director, Kamalludin Ismail said in the operation involving 40 Immigration Department personnel and 50 others from various agencies, 11 Chinese nationals believed to be guest relations officers(GROs), were arrested at an entertainment outlet in Melaka Raya, here.

"Four of the women were nabbed when they were trying to flee through a secret exit, after a hole had been made through the wall of one of the 12 karaoke rooms on the upper floor of the premises," he told reporters, here.

He said another 403 foreigners, aged between one month and above 50 years, were nabbed at a flats in Bachang, here, for committing offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63, including entering this country without valid documents and for overstaying.

They comprise 203 from Indonesia, 100 from Myanmar, 63 from Nepal, 21 from Bangladesh, 10 from India and six from Vietnam.

Kamaluddin said a local man in his forties was arrested under Section 56 (1)(d) of the same Act for harbouring these illegals.

In Sungai Petani, the Kedah Immigration Department arrested 130 illegals including 10 women during a raid under "Ops Selera" at two different locations, early today.

Its enforcement division chief, Nar Azaman Ibrahim said the illegals, aged between 14 and 50 years, were found to have committed offences like not having valid travel documents and overstaying.

The 120 males arrested comprise 53 Myanmars, 40 Indonesians, 16 Bangladeshis, six Nepalese, four Pakistanis and one Indian, while the 10 women comprise five from Myanmar and five from Indonesia.

Nar Azaman said 192 were checked in the operation which focused on the kongsis at the Puteri Jaya Hill Park and Lot 88 Sungai Petani construction sites.

He said 137 Immigration officers and staff, assisted by Rela and Civil Defence Department members as well as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers took part in the operation from midnight till 6am today.

In Kampar, the Perak Immigration Department arrested 12 foreigners including a woman in an "Ops Bersepadu 6P" operation at a kongsi at the Kampar new township construction site, early today.

Its senior assistant director, Wan Mahmud Zuhdi Wan Hassan said those arrested were from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and aged between twenties and forties.

He said they had overstayed, possessed false work permits or were without any travel documents.

The operation followed two weeks of surveillance, with 114 foreigners checked including 19 women and two children Those arrested were sent to the Langkap immigration detention depot.

In Johor Baharu, 101 illegals including two children were detained in a similar operation in Taman Muhibbah, Ulu Tiram, last night.

The illegals, aged between two and 58 years, are from Cambodia (72), Vietnam (22), Myanmar (four) and Indonesia (two).

State Immigration enforcement chief, Masri Adul said they had no valid travel documents, had overstayed or had misused their temporary work permit.

The illegals nabbed were sent to the Pekan Nanas immigration detention depot for further action. In the operation, seven locals were also detained after they were tested positive for drugs. — Bernama

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/ma....9xwIlqPI.dpuf