Over 4,800 foreigners inspected in 334 ops in Terengganu

In the first eight months of 2022, the Terengganu Immigration Department conducted 334 operations across the state, inspecting a total of 4,884 foreigners. Mohd Yusri Mohd Nor, the department's director, revealed that 1,257 of these individuals were detained for various immigration violations. Most of the detained immigrants were apprehended during a joint operation involving the National Security Council (NSC), local authorities, and police, targeting high-risk locations like construction sites, workplaces with foreign workers, businesses, plantation areas, and residential neighborhoods.

Under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, 522 undocumented migrants were detained for having invalid documents or permits. An additional 317 overstayers were apprehended under Section 15(4) of the same Act, while 372 individuals were detained for using forged passes, as per Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations. Meanwhile, 46 people were detained for committing other immigration offenses.

The department also initiated 207 investigations into immigration offenses during this period, collecting RM2.887 million in fines. A total of 727 individuals were charged in court, comprising 707 illegal immigrants and 20 employers who knowingly hired or sheltered these immigrants. Over RM602,000 in fines have been recorded in court cases thus far.

In August alone, 2,376 detainees were deported from the country. Meanwhile, Immigration deputy director-general Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli was part of an integrated operation in Bukit Besi on August 11, where 99 foreigners were inspected, and 49 were detained for violating the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963. Among the detained, 24 were from Bangladesh, 17 from Indonesia, seven from Myanmar, and one from India.