Malaysian authorities detained 567 undocumented foreign nationals, including 252 Bangladeshis in a raid at Abdullah Hukum Apartment in Jalan Bangsar of Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of Saturday (local time), reports New Straits Times.
Syamsul Badrin Mohshin, Director of the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department, said in the 1.15am raid, 85 immigration officers checked over 1,000 local and foreign nationals and detained 528 males, 38 females, and a child.
He said the detainees were from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Nepal and Philippines.
"Of the 567 nabbed, the highest number were Bangladeshi nationals with 252 detainees, followed by Nepal with 163, 75 from Myanmar, 72 from Indonesia, 4 from the Philippines, and 1 from India.
"The inspection covered 125 premises across the 14 levels of the apartment, involving 1,000 individuals, from a one-year-four-month-old baby to a 55-year-old," he said in a press conference.
Syamsul said that all those detained are believed to have committed offences under Section 6(1)(c), which involves not having proper identification documents; Section 15(1)(c), which pertains to overstaying; and Section 56(1)(l) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963 for using forged travel documents.
He added that the operation was conducted as a result of a week-long investigation following public complaints about the influx of foreign residents causing concern in the local community.
"If found guilty, all detainees will be placed at the Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot for further investigation and action.
"Some detainees have families, while others entered using social visit passes but are believed to be working near this residential area," said Syamsul.
However, there were two instances where one individual tried to escape by jumping from the second floor, suspected of overstaying, with no resulting injuries.
In a separate incident, he said there was an attempt to escape by jumping over the fence.
Due to the full cooperation of local residents, he said the individual was detained outside of the compound.
On whether the owners of the premises will be reprimanded for leasing their place to undocumented foreigners, Syamsul said the department will investigate.
"If found renting to foreigners, the department would take action against the homeowner," he added.