A total of 11,943 illegal immigrants, including 2530 Bangladeshis, were repatriated to their respective countries from Malaysia, said Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.
Speaking at a press conference here today, Ruslin said all the illegal immigrants had completed the documentation process and payment of the compound by their respective embassies.
He said all these individuals were from the 16,824 illegal immigrants who registered with the Migrant Repatriation programme as of yesterday.
He said of the number registered, 12,495 were men, 3,728 were women, 310 were boys and 291 were girls.
"Indonesia recorded the highest number of illegal immigrants registered with the programme, with 7,782 people, followed by Bangladesh (2,530), India (2,454) and Pakistan (1,617)," he said.
On case of 94 Bangladeshi nationals being cheated by their employer, Ruslin said all of them have been handed over to the employer involved for job placement and temporary work visit pass application (PLKS) matters.
"We did not detain these workers, many media parties did not get precise information. We took them to shelters because they did not commit any offence under the Immigration Act.
"Some of them have documents, some haven't got a pass yet and are in the process of getting one," he said.
On Feb 27, it was reported that the authorities rescued 94 Bangladeshi workers who were reportedly abandoned without being provided with suitable jobs and accommodation by their employer since they were brought into the country in November last year by a construction company in Cheras, Selangor.
In the meantime, Ruslin reminded employers not to hold their employees' passports in order to avoid any difficulties if the authorities conduct an inspection on the employees while they are outside the work premises.
"The employer cannot actually hold the document (passport) of the employee, because every time we check, we find that among the foreign workers, they do not have their documents (with them) which are being held by the employer. (Passports) should be held by them (the employees)," he said.
Source: New Straits Times
BDST: 1649 HRS, MAR 21, 2024
MN/SMS
