KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 — The Immigration Department detained 152 foreign nationals for various immigration offences during enforcement operations at food outlets in a shopping mall in Cheras last night.
The arrests were made during Ops Selera and Ops Sapu, which targeted premises suspected of employing foreign workers without valid documents.
Deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli said 890 individuals were checked during the operation, which began at 8pm, involving 458 foreign nationals and 432 Malaysians.
The detainees, comprising 82 men and 70 women aged between 21 and 42 from Myanmar, China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, were held for offences including not having valid travel documents, breaching pass conditions, overstaying, and holding unrecognised cards under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
“After receiving public complaints about the high number of foreign workers at food outlets in the mall, the Immigration Department carried out a week of intelligence work before making the move,” he told the media after the operation.
In a separate development, Lokman said about 155,000 foreign nationals have registered under the Migrant Repatriation Programme 2.0 so far, with 138,000 of them having voluntarily returned to their home countries.
Bangladeshi nationals recorded the highest participation in the programme, followed by Indonesians, and registrations are expected to rise as the April deadline approaches.
“Revenue from compound fines imposed under the programme has generated more than RM77 million for the country,” he said.
