No charges yet under new immigration provisos
None of the hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested by security officials since last Thursday have been charged formally despite earlier threats by the government to implement new tough provisions in the immigration law.
The amended immigration law which came into effect on Aug 1 stipulates that those found guilty of passport violations will be liable to a maximum fine of RM10,000, five years imprisonment and up to six strokes of the rotan.
Immigration Department Press Officer Ahmad Shukri Abdul Majid said the illegal immigrants will be charged according to the "merits" of their respective cases.
However, Ahmad said no action has been taken yet because of the short time since the arrests.
"We do not know the exact number of those arrested. The arrests only took place [on Sunday]," said Ahmad when contacted yesterday.
According to an AFP report on Sunday, enforcement officials arrested hundreds of illegal immigrants, mainly Indonesians, in a series of operations launched in the past three days.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the police headquarters in Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur, acknowledged that hundreds have been arrested but no charges have been made since officers are still making their investigations.
The spokesperson said the arrested persons have been sent to various illegal immigrants' detention camps throughout the country.
Under Malaysian law, the police are allowed to detain an individual at the police station's lock-up pending formal charges. Police are also required to charge the detainees within 24 hours of their arrest or present them before a magistrate for an extension to their remand order.
However, it is not certain how this provision under the Criminal Procedure Code is to be applied with regards to illegal immigrants.
Awaiting deportation
Among those arrested during police raids since last Thursday are 135 undocumented immigrants claiming to be asylum seekers while waiting outside the compound of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees building in Kuala Lumpur.
The detainees have since been sent to the Langkap detention camp in Perak and the Machap Umboo camp in Melaka to await deportation.
Based on conditions set by the Immigration Department, illegal immigrants are allowed to remain in the country temporarily with special permits if they have purchased tickets to leave the country within the next few weeks.
According to the department, a total of 318,272 illegal immigrants departed Malaysia during the government's amnesty period which took place between March 22 and July 31. Malaysia is said to be home to some half a million illegal immigrants of various nationalities.
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