Amid a crackdown against undocumented foreign workers, the Malaysian Immigration Department yesterday urged those who failed to apply for the enforcement card (e-card) to surrender for avoiding the risk of being fined and jailed, a local newspaper reports.

The Immigration Department director-general, Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, said those who surrendered would only be charged a penalty of 400 ringgits instead of paying up to 5,000 ringgits if they were caught by the authorities, The Star Online report quoted him as saying.

Should the case be brought to court, the minimum fine of RM 10,000 could be imposed, he said.

"They (undocumented foreign workers) can surrender and be deported immediately but before that, they will be investigated.

“Under our 3-Plus-1 programme, they will need to pay a fine of RM 400, then buy an air ticket and return to their countries of origin.

"They will also be given a blacklist period which can be up to five years from entering Malaysia," Mustafar told reporters.

The crackdown launched after the end of validation of the e-card on June 30 midnight saw at least 789 Bangladeshis detained between Saturday and Wednesday, according to media reports.

Mustafa yesterday noted that to date, the department had arrested over 2,000 foreign workers and 44 employers during the nationwide crackdown.

Meanwhile, another English language daily, New Straits Times, reports that the Penang Immigration Department rounded up 24 illegal immigrants raiding three locations in the state yesterday.

Of them, 18 were Bangladeshis and three each from Myanmar and Indonesia.

The e-card acts as a temporary validation to allow foreign workers who do not have valid documents to work in Malaysia. The card, however, expires on February 15 next year, and before that the cardholder must obtain a valid travel document from the embassies of the respective countries.

Soon after the crackdown, a large number of both legal and illegal foreign workers have gone into hiding and their employers fear they will not turn up for work until things have cooled down.

Amid this, Mustafar said they had detected false e-cards since the registration exercise began on February 15.

Mustafar yesterday said there was no possibility of an extension for the e-card registration, says The Star Online report.

He also said the detention depots were expected to be packed with arrested undocumented workers following the special operations being conducted almost every day after the deadline.

However, he added, the clearing process was being done by speeding up the investigation and prosecution, while deportation could help solve the problem of the undocumented migrants.