CLOSE to 35,000 foreigners were sent home since January after they were found to have violated their entry passes, Immigration Department director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said.

Dzaimee said the five countries with the highest entry pass violators were from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Vietnam.

“We stopped 34,786 foreigners at all entry points in the country and all were issued the ‘not to land’ notice since January.

“At KLIA alone, 4,207 individuals were denied entry after they were found misusing the entry pass,” said Dzaimee.

Dzaimee was responding to a viral video on TikTok alleging that the Immigration Department had discriminated against foreigners from India.

He said the group of Indian nationals had violated their entry pass by planning to work illegally in the country.

“Discrimination is a non-issue. What happened was the group of Indian nationals did not go straight to our counter when they arrived and instead they roamed around the airport for several hours,” he said.

“When we checked, we found that all of them had no idea where to go and came not as tourists but to work illegally.

“Some of them went to hide in airport bathrooms while others loitered around at public places,” he said.

Dzaimee said no one was treated inhumanely as alleged in the video.

“We give our best service to everyone. They were sitting on the floor when we checked them.

“After the inspection, they were sent back to their respective countries. Not one person was discriminated against,” he added. – August 8, 2022.