KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has identified 160 'jalan tikus' (illegal routes) along the country's borders, used by undocumented migrants to illegally enter the country.
Its minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the number of illegal routes were higher than that of the 140 official entry points.
"A 'jalan tikus' is a route that is not gazetted by bordering countries. As chairman of the Border Security Committee, I acknowledge this (issue).
"Most of the 'jalan tikus' are located in Kedah, Perlis and Kelantan," he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Abd Ghani Ahmad (Perikatan Nasional-Jerlun) who had asked about the ministry's steps in curbing the entry of illegal migrants into the country.
Saifuddin, meanwhile, said from Jan 1 to June 12 this year, a total of 61,152 foreigners had been detained for entering Malaysia without any valid travel documents.
"We are processing them, and for embassies, please issue travel documents so we can deport them and blacklist them from entering our country."