As many as 474 illegal immigrants and four employers were detained in the drive, Immigration Department director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said in a statement, reports The Star on Jan 3.
"Of those detained, Indonesians were the highest with 220, followed by China nationals (89), Bangladesh (78), Myanmar (42), the Philippines (22) and others," he added.
As many as 124 enforcement operations had been conducted since Jan 1 with 1,871 foreigners checked said the immigration official before committing to conducting large-scale continuous operations nationwide following the conclusion of the Back For Good (B4G) repatriation programme on Dec 31.
"A total of 190,471 illegal immigrants have registered for the B4G programme. Those who failed to sign up will be rounded up," Daud was quoted by The Star as saying.
The country has set a target of arresting at least 70,000 illegal immigrants in 2020, the official said.
