Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

TAWAU: A total of 232 Indonesian illegal immigrants, including a two-month-old baby, were deported via sea from Tawau to Nunukan Port, Tunon Taka Terminal, Indonesia, on Tuesday.

Sabah Immigration Director Datuk Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the deportees ranged in age from two months to 69 years and comprised 123 men, 72 women and 37 children. 

They were previously detained at the Immigration Depots in Kota Kinabalu, Papar and Sandakan.

“The eighth series of this sea repatriation programme for illegal immigrants was carried out in cooperation with the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Kota Kinabalu, using two express ferries - Purnama Express and Francis Express,” she said in a statement.

She added that the operation was conducted according to national legal procedures and with verification from the embassy of the detainees’ home country. 

She also advised all foreign nationals to ensure they have valid travel documents or work permits before entering Sabah, as enforcement operations are ongoing.