Public urged to report employers hiring illegals

The Immigration Department is urging those who know of individuals employing illegal immigrants to report them to the department immediately.

Its Enforcement, Investigation and Prosecution Division chief, Saravana Kumar Marimuthu said illegal immigrants working in eateries and employed as maids were among the most difficult to detect.

"It is difficult to detect them as they are in closed premises which we can't have access to. We therefore seek the cooperation of the local community to ensure that people are not employing illegals."

He said this to Bernama after appearing as a guest in the Ruang Bicara programme on Bernama News Channel at Wisma Bernama, here, last night.

According to Saravana Kumar, up to 12 days of the E-Card "Op Mega", the division had conducted nearly 600 operations nationwide and 10,385 foreigners were questioned.

"So far, 3,323 illegals have been detained for not having valid travel documents. They comprise 1,230 Bangladeshis, Indonesians (825), Myanmar nationals (273), Vietnamese (119), Thais (123), Filipinos (95) and the rest are from other countries," he said.

The department had also arrested 67 employers for allegedly hiring illegals, he added.

-- BERNAMA