In a series of separate raids, authorities in Malaysia detained 360 Bangladeshis within a span of three days, highlighting the enforcement against illegal immigrants.
At least 120 undocumented foreigners, including 108 Bangladeshis, were detained in Malaysia on Monday. On December 30, the immigration department also detained 252 Bangladeshis for various immigration offences in a separate raid in Kuala Lumpur.
The detainees failed to produce valid travel documents during a Malaysian Immigration Department’s raid at a workers' quarters at the Ulu Choh industrial site in the country’s administrative capital of the state of Johor, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported.
Baharuddin Tahir, the director of the Johor Immigration Department, said that the raid was initiated based on a public complaint about the premises housing foreign workers.
“108 Bangladeshi, eight Pakistani, two Indians, and one Nepali and Indonesian respectively, all between 22 to 50, were detained,” he said in a statement.
On December 30, the immigration department also detained 567 foreign nationals, including 252 Bangladeshis, for various immigration offences in an operation at an apartment in in Kuala Lumpur.
"During the operation, 1,000 foreigners were screened and 252 Bangladeshis, 163 Nepalese, 75 Myanmar nationals, 72 Indonesians, four Filipinos and one Indian national were detained for various immigration offences including not having valid travel documents,” Kuala Lumpur immigration director Syamsul Badrin Mohshin said.