THE Immigration Department has found that some Rohingya have entered the country using the services of agents who would also take them to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office to obtain the refugee card.

Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the matter would be scrutinised by a committee at the Home Ministry for further action.

“I had the chance to speak to some Rohingya UNHCR card holders (in the operation) yesterday. They confessed that they entered Malaysia through the borders of Kedah and Kelantan from Thailand and admitted that it was managed by agents,” he told reporters after the operation at a housing project site in Kubang Menerong, Tasek Gelugor early this morning.

“They also confessed that the agents managed trips to the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur for the process of obtaining the card.

“They (Rohingya) did not purchase the (UNHCR) cards, but they paid the agent between RM5,000 and RM7,000 per person, and the agent would take them to the UNHCR office.

“They thought that they purchased the cards but actually, they paid the agents in managing their entry.”

During the raid, the department inspected 36 foreigners working at the site and detained 25 of them, including a woman, for not having travel documents and overstaying.

Khairul said those arrested in the operation that started at 11.15pm consisted of 10 Bangladeshi men, eight Indonesian men, five Myanmar men and one Nepalese man and woman.

“All the foreigners have been taken to the detention depot for further investigation because some of them are suspected of using fake UNHCR cards,” he said.

Khairul said the operation was the 261st successful one carried out by the Penang Immigration Department so far this year, and 193 foreigners and 32 employers were detained for various offences during the period, involving a compound amount of more than RM2.5 million. – Bernama, September 17, 2022.