The Penang Immigration Department arrested 59 undocumented foreigners at four premises in Bukit Mertajam and Prai, in a series of raids that covered a restaurant, an entertainment centre and two factories.
Officers screened 55 people at the restaurant and the entertainment centre, detaining 35 women and one man, NST reported. That group included 14 Vietnamese, nine Thais, six Indonesians, four Chinese citizens and two Laotians.
In a separate operation under Ops Mahir, the department inspected 48 people at the two factories and detained 22 men and one woman. Those held there included five Myanmar nationals, five Nepalese, six Chinese citizens, three Sri Lankans, two Bangladeshis and one Indian.
The 36 arrests at the restaurant and the entertainment centre, and the 23 at the factories, make up the total the department announced in a post on its Facebook page on 21 Oct. The factory raids were carried out the day before.
Those detained were suspected of offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63, including failing to possess valid travel documents, overstaying and working without valid permits. The department said it also took action against an employer for hiring undocumented foreigners at the premises, and did not elaborate.
Ops Mahir is the department’s integrated enforcement operation, run across states and aimed at premises that employ foreign workers. A nationwide sweep in September, The Star noted, saw 122 undocumented migrants arrested at factories in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, among them 87 at a single factory in Perai where officers inspected 164 people. Offences in that operation were investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
The Penang leg of that September operation held 71 women and 16 men, aged in their 20s to 40s, all Indonesian and Myanmar nationals. In Kuala Lumpur the same day, officers inspected 43 people at a factory area in Cheras and detained 35 men aged 25 to 48, then issued three Form 29 notices to Malaysian citizens to help with the investigation.
Across the four premises, those detained came from 10 countries, from Vietnam, Thailand and Laos through Myanmar and Nepal to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.
Offences under the Immigration Act carry fines and jail terms, and an employer who hires workers without valid passes faces separate penalties. The department did not say where the 59 are being held or whether any of them have been charged.
Bukit Mertajam and Prai sit in Seberang Perai, the mainland half of Penang, where factories and entertainment outlets draw workers from across the region.
