THE Sabah Immigration Department has deported 9,938 illegal immigrants from four detention depots in the state to their countries of origin from 2021 to March 27 this year.

Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said it involved 2,497 illegal immigrants in 2021, 5,450 in 2022, and 1,991 from January 1 to March 27 this year.

“The Home Ministry is stepping up efforts to deport detainees to their countries of origin by holding regular negotiations with the Philippine and Indonesian embassies to speed up the process of repatriating detainees to their countries of origin,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a question from Lo Su Fui (Tawau-GRS) about action taken against illegal immigrants in Sabah, especially in Tawau, where they are purportedly causing social and security problems that are worrying local residents.

Shamsul Anuar said Sabah Immigration Department statistics up to March 27 showed there were 4,655 illegal immigrants detained at four immigration depots in Papar, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau.

He said 1,076 enforcement operations were carried out on business premises, with the arrests of 1,881 illegal immigrants and 45 employers throughout 2021.

In 2022, the department carried out 700 enforcement operations involving 1,437 arrests of illegal immigrants and 14 employers for various immigration offences, he said.

This year, “265 operations, 487 arrests (including two employers), and 6,405 inspections took place this year”, he said. – Bernama, March 29, 2023.