Strict action on those who overstay - Immigration Department
MUHAMMAD SHAMSUL ABD GHANI
Immigration director general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said that foreigners who enter Malaysia are subject to the laws of the country and strict action will be imposed on them if they overstayed.
He said, every foreigner who enter this country must obey and respect the laws of the country.
"Immigration will continue to hunt those who enter the country and did not return at the appointed time. If they are successfully arrested, they will be prosecuted, imprisoned and subsequently deported," he told Sinar
"Those who overstay will be categorised as undocumented migrants under Section 8 of the Immigration Act and banned from entering Malaysia for life," he said.
In the meantime, Khairul Dzaimee explained that a total of 22,560 undocumented migrants were arrested for various offenses throughout the country last year.
He said that the arrest statistics up to Dec 30 were a result of the implementation of 7,819 operations and inspections of 113,119 individuals.
According to him, the inspection found that the highest number of undocumented migrants arrests involved Indonesian citizens at 9,709 people followed by Myanmar (3,627), Bangladesh (2,845), Thailand (1,494), India (1,462), the Philippines (1,164), Pakistan (655), Nepal (437), Cambodia (367), Vietnam (342) and the rest were from other countries.
"In addition, we also detained a total of 343 employers for investigation for protecting and employing foreigners.
"The employers consisted of 330 locals and the rest were foreigners including from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and the Philippines," he said.
He explained that the immigration department also received a total of 14,318 undocumented migrants as a result of handovers by other law enforcement agencies and detentions at the country's borders.
He also said that throughout the past year, immigration had checked a total of 5,561 card holders of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
"Immigration will also take strict action against UNHCR card holders who are found guilty and in violation of any national law.
"As a group that is given permission to reside temporarily before being deported or placed in a third country, they should respect the laws of the country and the local community.
"Deportation action will be taken if they are found guilty by the court," he said.
For the record, he said the highest number of undocumented migrants arrests was in 2019 with a record of 51,300.
Meanwhile, he said in 2020, a total of 22,671 arrests were recorded whereas in 2021, there were 12,462 arrests.
