In the wee hours of a Sundayearly last month, a team from the Johor Immigration Department conducted a raid at an illegal kongsi housing more than 400 foreign workers in Gelang Patah.
It was a highly-secured accommodation made from refurbished shipping containers. What seemed like a routine check on a group of immigrants revealed that half of the inhabitants were not supposed to be there.
A total of 251 had illegally entered the country or had overstayed. They were mostly Bangladeshis, Indonesians and Myanmar nationals, with a small number of Vietnamese, Pakistanis, India nationals and Nepalese.
Some of them had documents which stated that they were supposed to work in Selangor or Kuala Lumpur. But, catching them sleeping in quarters meant for workers in Johor was a cause of concern. If it was a small number, it would have been fine, but with more than 251 of them in a similar predicament, it certainly raised alarm bells among investigators.
The group was booked for investigations until they were hauled to a special sessions court at the Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Depot in Pontian on Jan 4.
Two hundred and forty of them were sentenced to seven months’ jail after pleading guilty to charges of entering the country without a valid pass, while 11 claimed trial to charges of overstaying. They were sent to the Kluang Prison to serve their sentences and remand orders.
The case has put in focus the serious problem of illegal immigrants in the country. It was one of the biggest hauls of illegal immigrants to court and it proved that Johor was a state where many migrants entered and exited the country at legal and illegal entry points.
Johor Immigration Department director Rohaizi Bahari said migrants in this case were those who misused their social visit pass or did not obtain proper documentation to be employed in the country.
“In most instances, they will misuse their travel documents by gaining employment in the country, and that is a violation of immigration law,” he said.
Here lies the predicament. Many foreigners are taking advantage of their stay here using social visit passes to gain employment. In many other cases, they have permits to work in a specific job but abuse the document by working in other sectors.
“There are foreign workers in plantations, for instance, who possess documents that are for the construction sector,” said Johor Immigration Department enforcement head Masri Adul.
Since the bust, Rohaizi said the department had conducted raids in factories, kongsi and even night markets.
On Jan 6, the department detained 121 illegal immigrants at a construction site in Taman Bukit Mewah, Johor Baru. On Jan 11, another 10 illegal immigrants were held at a food court in a hypermarket in Kulai for working without valid permits under “Op Selera”.
There was also a case of migrant smuggling when police arrested
47 Indonesians, including a 1 year-old boy, who were crammed in
two budget hotel rooms in Johor Baru on Sunday.
They had arrived by sea two days earlier, from Pelambang, Medan, Flores and Nusa Tenggara Timur in Kupang.
Police’s initial investigations revealed that each Indonesian paid RM599 to a syndicate to obtain employment in Johor. The police issued a warning to budget hotel operators on turning their premises into transit points for illegal migrants.
The issues have, once again, brought focus to the country’s dependency on foreign labour, both legal and illegal.
We have to admit that Malaysia has attracted many foreign workers who are hoping to earn more.
This goes to show how prosperous the country is.
It is also apparent that many Malaysians shun much of these heavy labour, such as washing cars, manning food stalls and construction work.
But, one must remember that the money earned at these jobs is a lot.
“Don’t be surprised if these labourers are millionaires back home,” said Masri.
“They may be willing to live in squalid conditions without much food, facilities and comfort, but they earn money — a lot of money — to bring back to their home countries,” he said.
Violating immigration laws is one way illegal immigrants con their way into earning more.
And, if they return to their home countries undetected, there is no guarantee that they will not return to Malaysia.
The writer is NST Johor bureau chief. When not working, he loves driving along the coastal highway and trunk roads of Johor. A lover of food, music and theatre, he recommends everyone try Johor’s version of 'ais kacang' which is drenched in chocolate sauce