KUALA LUMPUR, 15 May 2020:
Immigration authorities arrested 113 illegal immigrants in raids conducted yesterday in the Selayang Baru area of Gombak near here – which is currently under an Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO).
Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said 63 immigrants are from Indonesia, 22 from Myanmar, 19 from India, six from Bangladesh, two from Pakistan and one from Nepal were held during the operation that began at 9am.
They comprised 66 men, 36 women and 11 children, he said in a statement today.
“During the operation, 1,683 foreigners were checked. The 113 were detained and taken for the documentation process at the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department in Jalan Duta.
“All the immigrants, checked and detained, were found to be Covid-19 negative in tests conducted by the Health Ministry.”
Khairul Dzaimee said the area had a large number of foreigners because many of them worked at the Selayang Wholesale Market.
“The arrested immigrants had committed offences such as not having valid identification documents, having overstayed, having false documents and for other offences under the Immigration Act.
“They will be investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, Immigration Act 1959/63, Passports Act 1966 and Immigration Regulations 1963.”
Khairul Dzaimee said all of them will be deported to their countries of origin after serving sentence for the offences and will be blacklisted from coming to Malaysia again.
Some 210 officers and personnel from various agencies, such as the police, Civil Defence Force, People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) and Health Ministry, took part in the operation.
Meanwhile, a foreigner’s brazen attempt to escape from the Pudu Market area – which has been placed under tightened administrative control – failed when he was arrested by police today.
In the incident at about 2pm, a man in his 30s was seen climbing over the barbed wire barriers and fleeing into a nearby supermarket – before he was caught by a police team.
A resident, who wanted to be known only as Lim, said foreigners living in the area were visibly worried upon seeing Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) personnel installing barbed wire fencing yesterday midnight.
“The foreigners know that if the area is sealed off, they would not be able to escape. In addition, netizens on social media have been sharing news on raids conducted by the Immigration Department against undocumented migrants, thus compounding their fears.”
As early as 10am, thousands of residents in Jalan Pudu, Jalan Landak, Jalan Pasar and Jalan Brunei started lining up for Covid-19 tests.
It was learnt that a team from the Ministry of Health wearing personal protective equipment also conducted a census by examining every premises in the area.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said the busy area around the Pudu Market has been placed under tightened administrative restrictions and not under the EMCO.
Prior to this, Chow Kit and Selayang were similarly placed under the strengthened administrative restrictions which limited the movements of residents.
– Bernama