Myanmar man held with 10 others attempting to leave country illegally

Kota Baru: A Myanmar man, believed to be a transporter, was arrested alongside ten fellow citizens during an Immigration Department raid at a hotel in Wakaf Che Yeh, Kelantan. The group consisted of six men and four women, who were presumed to be working in Johor Bharu and Kuala Lumpur. They arrived in Kelantan around 6:30 AM and checked into the hotel, which served as a temporary transit point.

At 8:30 AM, the Kelantan Immigration Department conducted a raid on the hotel, thwarting an attempt to illegally transport all ten undocumented migrants out of the country.

Officers discovered a Honda CR-V SUV, believed to have been used for the transport, along with several bags containing the migrants. Initial investigations revealed that each Myanmar citizen was obligated to pay the transporter RM3,500 for their journey back to Myanmar. The transporter, in his thirties, confessed to residing in Shah Alam, Selangor, for four years. All eleven individuals were detained to aid the ongoing investigation under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.

In a simultaneous operation in Kubang Kerian, the Kelantan Immigration Department inspected 57 foreign workers at a construction site and detained 55 for suspected immigration violations. From January 1 to October 15, the department carried out 11,000 enforcement operations across the nation, inspecting over 146,000 foreign workers.

More than 65,000 people were detained for various immigration offenses, and over 45,000 foreign workers were repatriated to their countries of origin. Lokman Effendi, deputy director-general of Operations at the Immigration Department, stated that these 11,000 operations over 287 days averaged approximately 38 operations per day.

On average, around 511 foreign workers were inspected daily, while 228 individuals were detained for various immigration offenses.