Bangladeshis among 26 foreigners held in Malaysia

Published at 03:16 pm September 1st, 2021

In this picture taken late July 11, 2017, migrant workers sit amidst Malaysian immigration officials following a raid at a construction site in Port Dickson AFP

All the detainees would be held at the Semenyih immigration depot pending investigations for various offences under the various Malaysian laws

Twelve Bangladeshis and 14 other foreign nationals were arrested in a series of immigration raids in the Pudu, Puchong and Cyberjaya areas of Malaysia since Tuesday, reports the Free Malaysia Today.

In a statement on Wednesday, Immigration Director-General Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the first raid at a hotel that was a “hotspot” for prostitution activities in Pudu resulted in 12 arrests, comprising seven Bangladeshi men and five Vietnamese women on Tuesday.

The other operation carried out at Puchong on Wednesday saw 12 foreigners – five Bangladeshi men, an Indonesian man and six Indonesian women – detained for failing to produce valid documents or passes during the inspection at a residential premises.

In a separate operation in Cyberjaya on Wednesday, a Ghanaian man believed to be working at a community club jumped into a lake next to the club to avoid arrest, and immigration officers were forced to follow suit to arrest him.

The man, and another Ghanaian, were detained for failing to produce any valid documents or passes.

Khairul said all detainees would be held at the Semenyih immigration depot pending investigations for various offences under the Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966 and Immigration Regulations 1963.