Increased influx of illegal immigrants through Kelantan - UPP

The Kelantan Anti-Smuggling Unit (UPP ) announced that there was an increased influx of illegal immigrants entering Malaysia through the state this year. Commander Rusli Karim said this was evidenced by the detention of 706 illegal immigrants from January to date, in contrast with 545 for the whole of last year.

"This is the trend, they leave for their countries of origin during the 6P, Phase II operation but are now coming back to work. So we expect even higher numbers.

"The detainees are mostly from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Pakistan," he told reporters at his office, Sunday. The 6p Phase II Op was launched on Jan 21 to track down such individuals who failed to register under the special programme to manage illegal immigrants and to detect employers who recruited these workers without valid documents.

In the latest case Saturday, Rusli said 15 illegal immigrants from Myanmar were arrested, aged between 11 and 69, and three vehicles valued at RM130, 000 were seized from a farm in Kampung Air Batu, Tanah Merah.

He said they were picked up about 3:45 am and believed to be destined for the Klang Valley.

"Following a surveillance, they were detained in two vehicles, a Honda Stream and a Proton Persona.

"The syndicates use luxury vehicles to transport them to the Klang Valley in order to evade the authorities," he said.

Initial investigations revealed that the syndicate brought the illegal immigrants into the country through the Malaysia-Thailand border in Kelantan through Sungai Golok.

"We believe the syndicate charge between RM170 and RM270 per person to bring them in and promise them jobs in the Klang Valley," he said.

Rusli said the 15 illegal immigrants would be sent to the Tanah Merah Immigration detention centre for further investigation under the Immigration Act 1959/63.