51 illegal workers including Bangladeshis nabbed in Malaysia

A total of 51 illegal workers were detained, 38 them of Bangladeshis, in a raid conducted by the Malaysian immigration department on Friday night, according to local media reports.

Two locations known for housing immigrants (rumah kongsi) were raided, exposing the congested and unsanitary conditions they were living in.

From the swoop, a total of 239 foreigners were checked.

The illegal workers detained comprised 38 Bangladeshis, five Nepalese, four Indonesians and four Myanmar nationals.

Immigration department director-general Mustafar Ali gave a briefing at the immigration headquarters in Putrajaya before leading a large convoy consisting of immigration officers and reporters to Klang.

Yesterday, Mustafar was reported to have said that immigration authorities will launch a large-scale operation to flush out illegal workers in the country, following the passing of the deadline yesterday for employees to get illegal immigrants working for them to register for the Enforcement Card or E-Kad.

As of yesterday, a total of 155,680 illegal workers working for 26,957 employers had applied for the E-Kad and 140,746 cards were issued. This is only 23% of the 600,000 cards targeted by the department.

Mustafar added that after the deadline, the department would arrest illegal workers and prosecute their employers under Sections 56(1) and 55B of the Immigration Act 1959/1963, including those employing immigrants with student passes.

In January, the government agreed to issue a temporary card or Enforcement Card (E-Kad) to enable employers to apply for the rehiring of illegal workers legally.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported as saying the home ministry had obtained approval from the Attorney-General’s Chambers to issue temporary cards for illegal workers who were employed.

Source: Free Malaysia Today