501 migrants including 15 Bangladeshis detained in Malaysia

Malaysia's immigration department has detained 501 migrants, including 15 Bangladeshis.

They were arrested on Friday (October 14, 2022) night during a raid on the warehouse of a shipping company in Shah Alam Section 22 of Selangor state.

Tarmizi Talib Ali, deputy director of the immigration department of Selangor state, told the media that the illegal immigrants were detained after monitoring their activities for a long time and movements based on the information of the local public.

78 officers of Selangor Reinforcement and four officials of the National Registration Department (JPN) joined the operation.

Among the detainees, 318 are from India, 16 from Nepal, 15 from Bangladesh, 62 from Indonesia, 79 from Sri Lanka and 11 from Myanmar.

Most of the detainees' passports were expired.  Many did not have valid travel documents.

Most of them were working as cleaners and construction workers in construction establishments.

Immigration official Tarmizi said the warehouse had never been raided before. A total of 614 people, including 113 local citizens, were examined in the drive.

Of these, 501 foreigners have been detained under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulation 1963, who do not have any valid documents.

"Besides, legal action will be taken against the owner for allowing the workers to work without valid documents," he added.