KOTA KINABALU: Babies and children were among over a hundred people detained during an immigration raid in Keningau district, early Wednesday (Aug 28).
In the midnight operation, Immigration officials inspected a total of 159 people and detained 104 who did not possess documents, and some who had overstayed.
Sabah Immigration Department director Datuk Sh. Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof in a statement said those detained comprised 87 Indonesians (31 men, 30 women and 26 children) and 17 Filipinos (two men, seven women and eight children).
“They are aged between five-months and 89-years-old. They will be placed at the Immigration Detention Depot in Papar for investigations and further actions.
“These people had no documents and some overstayed,” she said, adding that there were some who tried to flee and hide from the authorities during the raid which ended at around 3.55am.
Sitti said a total of 78 officials including 58 from the Immigration Department and 20 Rela members were involved in this operation.
Speaking on their ongoing operations, she said some of the challenges faced by Immigration officials are that illegal immigrants are more aware of movements of enforcement officials and they would use social media applications including WhatsApp to spread information.
“This gives others the opportunity to hide and run. Other than that, we also face geographical challenges such as having to wade through operation sites which are uneven, hilly, muddy and wide,” she said.
However, Sitti said this will not stop them from conducting scheduled raids and operations under the various Acts such as the Immigrations Act 1959/63, Passports Act 1966 and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
She urged the public and employers to not harbour illegal immigrants or face legal repercussions.
She also called upon anyone with information on illegal immigrants to come forward and inform the authorities.
On related matters, Sitti said the Sabah Immigration Department has conducted a total of 1,066 operations, inspected a total of 20,706 people, arrested 3,619 suspects and charged 31 employers as of June this year.
“We have also deported a total of 4,150 people during this period and will continue to enforce laws accordingly,” she added.
