TAWAU: A total of 108 illegal immigrants were arrested in “Ops Kutip/Mahir” after 1,200 individuals were screened by the Sabah Immigration Department (JIM) in Semporna and Kunak, starting at 8.50am, on Friday.
JIM Sabah Director General Datuk SH Sitti Salehah Habib Yussof said 81 of them were arrested in Semporna and 27 in Kunak comprising 14 men and 13 women.
“All those detained comprise 101 Filipinos, Chinese (6) and one Pakistani national, aged between one and 66 years, comprising 72 men and nine women,” she told a press conference at the Tawau Immigration Detention Depot.
According to her, the operation which targeted several locations, including a construction site in Jalan Seri Melor, Semporna and around Semporna and Kunak town areas, involved 63 officers from the Kota Kinablu, Lahad Datu and Tawau Immigration offices.
SH Sitti Saleha said the illegal immigrants were arrested after being found to have committed various offences, including not having valid identification documents, overstaying, misuse of passports and allowing illegal immigrants to enter and stay in premises.
“They are being investigated according to Section 6(1)(c), Section 15(1)(c), Rule 39(b) and Section 56(1)(d),” she said.
She reminded the public and employers not to harbour illegal immigrants or face legal action.
She also urged the public to help the department in carrying out enforcement by channelling information.
In a related development, SH Sitti Saleha said JIM Sabah received an allocation of RM50 million this year to upgrade all four detention depots in Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Tawau and Sandakan.
She said the depots would each receive RM12.5 million, involving the project of upgrading the fence for security control purposes.
“The project will start this year in phases and expected to be completed within two years involving all detention blocks, including creating a restroom that meets human rights standards by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam),” she said.
According to her, the maximum capacity of the four detention depots in Sabah which is 7,200 people at any one time is still able to accommodate the current number of detainees which are 3,808 Filipinos, Indonesia (741), China (8), Pakistan (21), Vietnam (19) and stateless (11).
At this time, she said there was a delay in the repatriation of Filipino national detainees because there was a format change involving the system at the country’s embassy which resulted in the deportation process being delayed.
