THE Immigration Department said it has broken up a gang using Malaysian international passports to smuggle Sri Lankan children to Europe, following the arrest of a husband and wife in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Immigration director-general Ruslin Jusoh said the couple were detained on April 12 when they turned up at Immigration headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to obtain a Malaysian passport for a Sri Lankan child.

He said the ‘Bahnu Internationals’ gang made use of poor Malaysian parents with children under 12 to get the passports.

The gang would trick parents into bringing their child’s birth certificate to the immigration office on the pretext of wanting to make a passport for the kid, he added.

“However, during the application process at the immigration counter, a Sri Lankan almost the same age as the Malaysian child would be ushered to the counter instead to get their fingerprint and photograph taken.

“Once completed, the husband and wife – who lead the gang – will act as a ‘transporter’ by taking the child to Europe,” he said in a statement today.

He said the immigration officer processing the passport application that day suspected something amiss when the guardian looked significantly different from the child, who could not speak Malay.

He said the parents were paid RM500 for bringing their child to the immigration office.

Ruslin said initial investigations showed the gang received €30,000-50,000 (RM146,000-243,000) for each child smuggled successfully.

“Investigations are ongoing to find out how long this group has been active and how many children were involved.

“The couple, aged 37 and 26, were charged under section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 in the Sessions Court today,” he said. – Bernama, April 19, 2023.