Officials Nab Myanmar Pub Owner In Crackdown On Illegals
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- Published on Sunday, 02 March 2014 08:20
Illustration (PIC: khabarsoutheastasia.com)KUALA LUMPUR: A Myanmar pub owner was among 190 foreigners detained on the first day of an integrated operation to hunt down illegal immigrants involved in business using trading licences owned by local residents.
In the two-hour operation beginning at 7pm tonight, 81 Myanmar nationals were nabbed, along with 25 Bangladeshis, 28 Nepalese, 15 Indonesians, four Indians, three Pakistanis, two Sri Lankans, two Palestinians, two Filipinos and one Vietnamese.
Home minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said 500 foreigners were screened during the second phase of the operation.
The 190 including 17 women were found without valid documents or conducting businesses at premises owned by local residents, he said.
“We also detained three employers. Two of them were women who had employed illegal immigrants at their business premises, and a Myanmar man who held a UNHCR card and operated a pub,” he told reporters after the operation at restaurants, stalls, mobile phone accessories shops and medicine shops around Jalan Silang here.
Ahmad Zahid said the first phase involved 915 locations, during which 6,293 illegal immigrants and 69 employers were detained.
“Of the number, 6,116 have been deported,” he said, adding, the operation involved 195 officers and personnel from the Immigration Department, National Registration Department, Civil Volunteer Corps (Rela), Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission and Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
He also urged the local authority to ensure that trading licenses issued to locals were genuinely used and not abused for illegal immigrants to engage illegally in business activities in the country.
Meanwhile, a Myanmar national who possessed a UNHCR card, said he had been working at the pub belonging to his countryman for five years.
He said he received a monthly salary of RM2,000 and had just obtained the UNHCR card four months ago.
Bernama
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