3,403 Bangladeshis detained in Malaysia

At least 3,403 workers from Bangladesh have been detained by the Malaysia Immigration Department in last five months, reports Malaysian national news agency BERNAMA.

Director-general of Malaysia Immigration Department Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said that since January 1, a total of 17,869 undocumented expatriate workers were detained in 6,019 drives, conducted by Malaysia’s immigration police.

The illegal immigrants comprised 6,315 Indonesians, 3,403 Bangladeshis, 1,956 Filipinos, 1,748 Myanmar and the remaining number from other countries, he said in a statement.

A total of 4, 82,535 Bangladeshis workers had registered under the Rehiring Programme of the country, according to BERNAMA.

Mustafar said that 92,280 other undocumented expatriates surrendered voluntarily and returned to their own countries during the period.

He said that 53,129 undocumented expatriates were detained for overstaying and 39,151 others for lacking valid visas.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, Malaysia began hiring Bangladeshi workers in 1978 and over nine lakh Bangladeshis got jobs there ever since.