Over 57,000 undocumented migrants detained and 1,720 employers charged in Malaysia

From the start of the year through mid-September, Malaysia's Immigration Department conducted 9,700 raids that led to the detention of more than 57,000 illegal immigrants, according to deputy director-general Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli. The same timeframe saw 1,720 employers prosecuted for breaches of the Immigration Act 1959/63. Ramli emphasized that prosecutions target both foreign nationals and the employers who violate immigration rules, and he called on citizens to provide complete, official information to authorities.

During the integrated Op Mega operation at Sri Kolam Flats in Kuala Terengganu, the Terengganu Immigration unit, together with the National Security Council and the Civil Defence Force, inspected 133 foreigners and detained 19 undocumented individuals. Those detained included a Bangladeshi man, fourteen Myanmar nationals and four Indonesians, ranging from a one-month-old infant to a 50-year-old adult. Seven of the Myanmar women had entered the country via unauthorized agents to join husbands already residing in Malaysia.