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Ahmadul Kobir, Malaysia: Malaysia’s Immigration Department (JIM) has detained 234 foreign workers, including 155 Bangladeshis, in separate raids on three factories in Johor over suspected immigration offences.
The workers are being investigated for alleged offences including entering Malaysia without valid documents, overstaying and misusing immigration passes or work permits.
According to the Johor Immigration Department, the first operation was carried out at two furniture factories in Parit Jamil, Muar, where immigration officers detained 176 male foreign workers during a two-hour Ops Mahir operation that began at 11am on Tuesday.
Those detained included 147 Bangladeshis, 27 Nepalese, two Chinese nationals and one Myanmar national.
Two local women employed as factory managers were also detained to assist with the investigation.
Several foreign workers attempted to flee during the operation, but were unable to escape after immigration officers surrounded the factory premises.
In a separate operation at a timber factory along Jalan Ayer Hitam-Yong Peng in Batu Pahat, immigration officers detained another 58 foreign workers, including seven women.
They comprised 24 Myanmar nationals, 16 Indians, eight Bangladeshis, seven Chinese nationals, two Nepalese and one Pakistani national.
A local lorry driver was also detained during the operation, which was led by Batu Pahat Immigration operations chief Ikhmal Fauzy and involved 55 immigration officers and personnel.
JIM said the detained workers, aged between their 20s and 50s, were being investigated under various provisions of the Immigration Act 1959 for suspected offences including illegal entry, overstaying and the misuse of passes or permits.
The latest operation highlights Malaysia’s continuing crackdown on immigration violations involving foreign workers. It also comes amid heightened concern among Bangladeshi workers, who form one of the largest foreign labour groups in the country.
All 234 foreign workers were subsequently taken to the Immigration Detention Depot in Pekan Nanas, Pontian, for further investigation and legal action.