1,005 Employers Detained For Hiring, Harbouring Undocumented Migrants

KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 (Bernama) -- The Immigration Department (JIM) has detained 1,005 employers for allegedly hiring or harbouring undocumented migrants between Jan 1 and July 3 this year.

JIM director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the arrests involved employers from various sectors, including restaurants, factories and retail shops, with most of them being locals found sheltering foreign nationals without valid documents.

“As of July, we’ve achieved 70 per cent of our Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and I’m confident we’ll exceed our target by year-end,” he told reporters at the IMI KL Run and Customer Engagement Day held here today. Also present was Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff.

During the same period, JIM conducted 6,913 nationwide operations, screening 97,322 foreign nationals and arresting 26,320 individuals for suspected immigration offences.

Zakaria said enforcement would continue to be intensified, with no compromise on undocumented migrants. The department is also monitoring over 200 identified hotspots across the country, including remote and rural areas.

He added that public outreach events like today’s programme, which drew over 800 participants, would be continued to strengthen public engagement.

The IMI KL Run featured two categories, namely five kilometres (km) and 10 km, around the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office.

-- BERNAMA