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165,040 undocumented migrants repatriated under B4G programme

About 165,040 undocumented migrants out of the 195,471 registered under the Back For Good (B4G) amnesty exercise which ended yesterday, have been deported to their respective countries.

Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud (below) said while the remaining 30,431 migrants were still waiting to be repatriated depending on their flight dates.

“Indonesians, Bangladeshis and Myanmar nationals were among the highest number of illegals immigrants who registered under the programme, comprising mostly of workers,” he told reporters after leading an operation in Puchong, today.

He said that during the implementation of the exercise which began in August last year, the Immigration Department had received numerous complaints about the existence of touts or agents claiming to act as middlemen to speed up the process of registering for the programme.

Following this, Khairul Dzaimee said five individuals, comprising locals and foreigners, detained for questioning were believed to be such middlemen.

“They were found to be carrying out such activities (as middlemen) at the Immigration offices in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Tighter controls

In July last year, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced the B4G programme from Aug 1, last year to yesterday (Dec 31) aimed at reducing the number of illegals in the country.

These groups only need to obtain complete identification documents from their respective embassies or high commissions before handing them over to the Immigration Office and pay a compound of RM700 and show the flight tickets for them to return to their home countries.

In another development, Khairul Dzaimee said they would continue to tighten control at the country’s entry points to address the problem of illegal immigrants, including tracking Chinese and Indian tourists still staying in the country.

“We will make sure foreigners who enter using social visit passes are legally required to have a place to stay and proof of financial ability to cover their expenses while here. They will also have to submit a return ticket to their country of origin,” he said.

Earlier, the Auditor-General’s Report 2018 Series 2 revealed that there are no records of exit dates involving more than 95 per cent of Chinese and Indian nationals visiting the country from 2016 to last year.

- Bernama

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