Foreigners Use Guerilla Tactics To Evade Arrest By Immigration In Klang

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Immigration deputy director-general Jafri Embok Taha said some of the foreigners claimed they are United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cardholders to avoid arrest. (Bernama pic)
KLANG: Fearing arrest, a handful of foreigners used “guerrilla tactics” to avoid arrest by the immigration department during an enforcement operation at the Meru market complex in Klang early today.

The operation, which began at 5.30am, saw some foreigners crawling into narrow drains to hide while some climbed onto the roofs of shops to evade the authorities.
Immigration deputy director-general (operations) Jafri Embok Taha said some of the foreigners claimed they are United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cardholders to avoid arrest.
He said 598 out of the 628 foreigners inspected were arrested. They were aged between 17 and 57.
Those inspected included 530 from Myanmar, 85 from Bangladesh, seven from Indonesia, five from India and one Nepali.
All those we detained will be placed at the Semenyih immigration depot for investigation and follow-up action.
Among the offences identified were not having identification documents, violating pass conditions and overstaying, Jafri said at a press conference after the operation ended at about 7am.
Also present during the operation were Selangor immigration director Khairrul Aminus Kamaruddin and Klang mayor Abd Hamid Hussain.
The operation involved a total of 153 officers from various agencies, including the immigration department, national registration department, General Operations Force and Klang Royal City Council (MBDK).
Jafri said they would continue to carry out similar operations to detect, arrest, prosecute and deport foreign nationals who violate provisions under the Immigration, Passport Act 1966 and Immigration Regulations 1963; and Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007
Meanwhile, Hamid said the city council believed that almost 50% of the 600 lots licensed by MBDK were rented out to foreigners.
He said the council will carry out further inspections to identify the actual number of lots involved to ensure these licences were not misused.
“We are aware the facilities provided by MBDK are provided at a cheap price, so if someone resorts to ‘Ali Baba’ practices, they may rent them out to foreigners at a higher price to make a profit,” he said. - FMT

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