Malaysian authorities began a campaign on July 1 to nab illegal foreign workers nationwide (Source: nst.com.my)
Malaysian authorities began a campaign on July 1 to nab illegal foreign workers nationwide, especially in states accommodating crowds of guest workers.
The crackdown, named Hari Hari Operasi (HHO), was conducted following the midnight deadline for E-Card (enforcement card) applications on June 30.
Thirty minutes after the end of the E-card programme, a team of 90 enforcement personnel of the Immigration Department led by its Director General Mustafar Ali stormed hostels of workers of two factories in Klang district of Selangor state.
A total of 51 workers with no valid documents, hailing from Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and Myanmar, were arrested during the raid.
Mustafar said the arrestees were brought to the department’s headquarters for further investigations and settlement, adding that Malaysia will conduct daily raids to ensure that there are no more illegal foreign workers in the country.
As many as 315 workers, including 295 men and 20 women, working for three factories in the Taman Gembira industrial zone in Johor state, and 97 others at a construction site in Kota Baru city, Kelantan state, were also detained during the raids on July 1.
The same day, Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reiterated that there would be no extension to the registration period.
The E-Card, which was launched on February 15 this year, functions as a temporary confirmation of employment for illegal workers, which replaces valid travel documents from their respective countries. This allows employers ample time to complete the process of registering their illegal workers.
Statistics show that only 140,746 illegal foreign workers in Malaysia were provided with E-cards, as compared with 600,000 counted by the Immigration Department.
VNA
