(MENAFN- Colombo Gazette) Sri Lankans were among 158 illegal migrants detained in Malaysia during a raid on an apartment complex.
A total of 158 of the 358 migrants inspected at the Bercham Flats here were detained for living in Malaysia without valid visas or permits or for overstaying past their allowed duration, says Perak Immigration director Meor Hezbullah Meor Abd Malik.
The detainees were 83 men, 54 women, 8 boys, and 3 girls all aged between 9 and 60 years old and all are from Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
“Most of these individuals were renting apartments from local landlords. Approximately 560 units in 15 blocks were inspected during the operation,” he stated early this morning.
One of the detainees was a 50-year-old Indonesian woman named Elriyanti, who had been working as a house cleaner without a permit for a year.
The woman from Sumatra was among the 158 individuals apprehended during a joint operation dubbed Op Pintu, which involved 160 personnel from the state Immigration Department and the Ulu Kinta General Operations Force, between 1 am and 3 am.
Elriyanti, a mother of two aged 14 and 16, said that she had previously worked in Penang but had relocated to Perak a month ago with the help of a friend.
“I came by ferry, paying RM3,000 (10 million Indonesian rupiah). I worked as a house cleaner, earning RM2,000 a month,” she said during an interview after her detention.
Elriyanti explained that she sent RM600 monthly to her family back in Sumatra, and paid a monthly rent of RM80 to her landlord, sharing the house with three other compatriots.
Meor Hezbullah warned local homeowners not to rent their properties to foreigners without proper authorisation.
He said that doing so could lead to charges under Section 55 (E) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, which carries a maximum fine of RM30,000 or imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both.
Meor Hezbullah stated that following the recent arrests, the department would investigate every homeowner who rented their units to undocumented migrants. ( Bernama / Colombo Gazette)
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