Jafri (left) listening to a foreigner detained at the operation. -Bernama photo
SANDAKAN (Oct 3): One hundred and twenty-one foreigners were detained for breaking immigration offences during a two-day operation in the district.
Three locals were also arrested under Section 55(B) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 on suspicion of employing foreigners without valid travel passes.
Immigration deputy director-general (operations) Jafri Embok Taha disclosed that 219 individuals were screened during the exercise, which began on Wednesday.
The detainees, aged between 12 months and 65 years, include 46 men, 36 women, and 32 children.
“They will be placed at the Sandakan immigration depot,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
Jafri noted that some foreigners attempted to flee during the operation but were apprehended by 64 officers and personnel from the Sandakan Immigration office.
Meanwhile, the Immigration Department on Thursday deported 650 illegal immigrants from the Philippines who were detained at the Papar Immigration depot.
Jafri said all the illegal immigrants aged between one and 82 years were sent from the Port of Sandakan to the Port of Zamboanga City in the Philippines using vessel MV Antonia 1.
He said the children in the repatriation were accompanied by their parents and guardians and up to Oct 3, a total of 3,418 Filipino national detainees had been deported to their country via sea and air transport.
“The frequency of the process of repatriation of illegal immigrants is also subject to the Philippine embassy in speeding up the documentation process in issuing travel documents to enable the detainees to return to their country of origin,” he said.
Jafri said employers who employed foreign workers were also reminded to ensure that all their workers had valid passports to work in Sabah.
He said all individuals holding social visit passes for the purpose of travelling were also warned not to abuse the pass as they could face prosecution and get blacklisted to re-enter Sabah and Malaysia if they violated the conditions of the pass.
