PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department has deported 23,000 illegal immigrants up till May this year for various criminal offences, said its director-general, Datuk Mustafar Ali.
Topping the list of illegal immigrants deported are Indonesians with 6,849 people. This was followed by Bangladeshis at 4,220 people.
“We need the foreign workers. But we will not tolerate their crimes,” he told reporters after a dialogue session with the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) in his office this evening.
Also present was the vice chairman of MCPF, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
“They have violated the terms of their pass. They are involved in a lot of immoral activities here,” Mustafar said.
He listed various offences such as prostitution, black money scam, murder, snatch theft and kidnapping.
Currently, there are 13 detention centres nationwide and the Immigration Department has detained a total of 146,876 illegal immigrants in a series of nationwide crackdowns conducted from 2014 to 2016.
Addressing criticism on the lack of medical assistance at the detention centres, Mustafar said the medical assistance provided at the detention centres were sufficient.
“We have one medical officer from the Ministry of Health visiting each detention centre periodically.
“What we need is a bigger workforce to mind the 137 entry points and the detention centres.”
At present, there are 14,447 enforcement officers serving the department nationwide.