Malaysia Detains 40,000 Illegal Migrants And 1,589 Entrepreneurs In 11 Months

Illustration of the twin towers of Petronas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Unsplash-Sua Truong)

JAKARTA - Malaysia's Ministry of Home Affairs revealed that it has detained 41,073 illegal immigrants from 17,745 law enforcement operations of the Immigration Department (JIM) in the last 11 months.

Malaysian Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said 1,589 businessmen were also detained for various immigration violations during the same period.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) through JIM is committed to maintaining state security by continuing to carry out law enforcement operations and preventing an increase in the number of illegal immigrants," he said, quoted from the Malaysian Parliament website via Bernama, Sunday, November 22.

"As of October 31, the number of foreign workers registered at JIM has reached 2,438,468, working in seven main sectors: manufacturing, construction, services, plantations, agriculture, household chores, as well as mining and quarrying," he said.

This was said by Saifuddin in response to questions from lawmaker Ismail Abd Muttalib (PN-Maran) regarding the current number of foreign workers and illegal immigrants in Malaysia, as well as steps to address the problem of the entry of illegal foreign nationals into the country.

During the same period in 2023, JIM has carried out 2,762 integrated operations in collaboration with various other law enforcement agencies across the country.

These operations resulted in the arrest of 8,812 illegal immigrants and 52 businessmen for various immigration violations.

Saifuddin said that a number of actions taken to detect foreign visitors who exceeded the time limit were continuous law enforcement operations, including arrests, prosecutions, and deportations of foreign nationals who violated the Immigration Act 1959/63, the 1966 Passport Act, and the 1963 Immigration Regulation.

In addition, actions have also been taken against employers who employ illegal foreign workers.

Over the past year, 27,739 foreign visitors were arrested and detained at immigration detention centers across the country, while from January 1 to November 14 this year, 41,234 illegal immigrants have been placed in immigration detention depots, he said.