2,758 illegals nabbed in Penang from January to November

BUTTERWORTH: A total of 2,758 illegal immigrants were detained in 1,296 operations by the Penang Immigration Department from January to November, according to its director Meor Hezbullah Meor Abdul Malik.
He said the department had also acted against 242 employers of illegal immigrants and had charged them with various offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 during the period.
"The Penang Immigration Department is very serious in tackling the flood of illegals in the state and we have repatriated 2,742 illegals from early this year to November. We also focus our inspection at two main entry points, namely, the Penang International Airport (PIA) and the Penang Port," he said here today.
Meor Hezbullah said 1,024 aliens were not allowed to enter via PIA under the Immigration Act this year, as compared to 995 last year, while 36 were detained at there this year for various offences.
He said the number of those who were not allowed to enter via the Penang Port had also gone up to 1,506 this year, compared to only 320 last year and 124 aliens were detained at the port this year.
In addition, he said the amount of fines collected this year had also gone up by 51% to RM12.17 million compared to RM7.038 million in 2016. — Bernama