Undocumented Bangladeshis in Malaysia: 5,272 detained in five months
The Malaysian immigration department has detained 5,272 Bangladeshi workers, among other nationals, between January 1 and June 4 this year amid the country’s stringent action against undocumented foreign workers.
During this time, the immigration department carried out 7,940 nationwide operations, involving checks on over 100,000 foreigners, and actions have been taken against 23,295 undocumented foreign workers, reports Malaysian newspaper Free Malaysia Today, quoting a statement by the country’s Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Sunday.
Of those detained, 8,011 are Indonesians, 5,272 are Bangladeshis and the rest include the workers from Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.
In the same period, legal action was taken against 605 employers under the immigration act.
“In the five months between Jan 1 and Jun 1 2019, some 26,116 illegal immigrants were sent back to their respective countries,” the statement said.
The number of Bangladeshis jailed or deported could not be known.
Malaysia is home to some 800,000 Bangladeshis. Of them, some one to two lakh are estimated to be undocumented. Bangladesh has repeatedly requested Malaysian authorities to regularise the undocumented workers, but the latter has reportedly denied.
According to migrant rights bodies, fraudulence by Malaysian agents and abuses by the employers contribute to workers being undocumented. They too have called for the Malaysian government to regularise undocumented foreign workers before fresh labour recruitment from Bangladesh.
In Sunday’s statement, the Malaysian home minister said his ministry was developing a comprehensive and holistic enforcement plan to tackle the issue of undocumented foreign workers.
The plan will be implemented over a span of five years and will involve strategic cooperation between federal and state agencies, as well as local and village community management councils.
The objective of the plan is to “make it uncomfortable for illegal immigrants to continue their daily lives” through the increased strategic cooperation between law enforcement agencies and greater public awareness.
The ministry statement said the plan contained five main strategies: enforcement, legal and policy, border controls, management of illegal migrants, and media and publicity.
Other strategies include one on border control and management of foreigners in the country, while the final strategy relates to public awareness on the illegal immigrant issue, reported Free Malaysia Today.
The ministry said the illegal immigrant issue is a cause of worry for the public and that it will continue to carry out enforcement operations against the illegal immigrants.
Employers who bring in illegal immigrants to work could be fined between RM10,000 and RM50,000 or jailed for up to one year, or both, for each illegal immigrant hired.
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