ILLEGAL immigrants are playing a cat and mouse game with border control personnel along the Sarawak–Kalimantan border, Deputy Chief Minister James Masing said today.

People deported will still try to sneak back into Malaysia using small pathways (jalan tikus), making them repeat offenders.

“We catch them and we send them back but they seem to keep coming back. It is like a cat and mouse game they play with us,” Masing said after chairing a meeting of Sarawak’s security control committee today.

Offenders also do not seem deterred by the increased number of roadblocks on roads from the border and along the Pan Borneo Highway, he added.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Director of Immigration Ken Leben said that 292 operations have been conducted since January till yesterday to apprehend undocumented immigrants in the state.

From these operations, 1,169 migrants were detained for various offences, including illegal entry and overstaying.

He also said to date, nine employers and eight ‘tekongs’ (people who helped facilitate the illegals entry into the state) have also been charged. – June 16, 2021.