KLANG: A famous supermarket chain has come under the scrutiny of Immigration Department after it was found harbouring 113 illegal foreign workers at a warehouse, here.
The discovery was made during a raid at the facility in Jalan Kebun on Monday following a tip-off, Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said.
Initial investigation revealed that the workers were supplied to the company by different employment agencies operating illegally.
“The department conducted surveillance on the facility before raiding it at 3.30pm on Monday. There, we did a check on 150 foreign workers.
“ A total of 113 were found to be working there illegally; 40 were Nepalese men, 39 Bangladeshi men, 27 Pakistani men, two Indian men, and five Vietnamese including two women.
“The company hired the workers through at least three outsourcing companies, that were operating without a license from the home ministry.
“The company only referred to inter-companies sourcing contracts without cross-checking with authorities whether these companies have permission from the ministry,” Mustafar said in a statement.
Mustafar said detained workers who had travel documents told authorities that their passports were kept by their employer, while there were also those who did not possess any identification document.
He said the company was being investigated under Section 55B of the Immigration Act for hiring immigrants without a valid pass, while the workers are being probed for either entering the country illegally, overstaying or abuse of permit, among others.
In a related development, Mustafar said the department had carried out a total of 12,249 enforcement operations against illegal immigrants nationwide between Jan 1 and Oct 20.
He said the operations saw a total of 143,868 immigrants checked, resulting in the arrests of 37,909 illegal immigrants.
The department had also arrested 1,087 employers for flouting the law during the same period.
Mustafar said Indonesians made the top of the list with 13,798, followed by Bangladeshi (7,635), Myanmar (3,410), Filipinos (3,071), Thais (2,660), Vietnamese (1,875), and Indians (1,296), among others.