24 more foreign workers detained in Penang

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Immigration authorities have detained 24 foreign workers, including three women, in the ongoing crackdown on illegal workers here.

Penang Immigration Department director Meor Hezbullah Meor Abd Malik said those detained were caught at Bayan Lepas, Bukit Mertajam and Butterworth.

He said the first raid was at a factory in Bayan Lepas in which 13 people, including three women, were detained.

He said two other enforcement teams at a construction site in Bandar Perda and a worker hostel in Jalan Pantai, Butterworth, detained a total of 11 men.

He said those detained were aged between 20 to 45 and were from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

"Investigations are being carried out under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not possessing valid travel documents and for overstaying," he told reporters after the operation codenamed Ops Ikrar.

The operation is part of nationwide effort to deal with undocumented workers after applications for the Enforcement card (E-card), a temporary worker permit, closed on June 30.