SINTOK: A total of 117 employers have been caught for hiring illegal immigrants under the month-long Ops Mega which began on June 30.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said the figure was recorded until 10am today.
He said Penang recorded the highest number of cases with 30 employers followed by Johor (23), Putrajaya (19), Kuala Lumpur (13), Pahang (5), Terengganu and Perak with three cases each, and one in Selangor.
Mustafar said the employers are being investigated under Section 56 (1) (d) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for harbouring illegal immigrants which carries fines of up to RM50,000.
Employers harbouring more than one illegal migrant are staring at up to five years’ jail sentence and a maximum of six strokes, if convicted.
Throughout the operation, the department had also rounded up 5,437 illegal migrants.
Mustafar warned that stern action would be taken against errant employers as they were contributing towards the influx of illegal workers.
He stressed that despite initiatives taken by the government to resolve illegal workers issue including the introduction of Enforcement Card (E-Card), many employers were still hiring illegal immigrants.
“We have given the employers ample time to legalise their workers through the E-Card programme and now it is time to take stern action against those who still are harbouring illegal immigrants.
“The due process of law will take its place and this is to ensure the country is free from illegal immigrants,” he told reporters after the 2017 Immigration Department convention at Dewan Muazam Shah, Universiti Utara Malaysia here today.
The convention was opened by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.