LAHAD DATU: A total of 5,092 illegal immigrants were detained in 4,918 integrated operations by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) in 11 months from January to November at the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) this year.
ESSCom commander DCP Dato’ Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid in a statement yesterday said the operations which were accompanied by various security and enforcement agencies such as the Royal Malaysian Police, armed forces, Immigration Department, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agencies, Road Transport Department, Customs Department, National Registration Department, district councils and offices, and the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism focused on six districts under ESSZone, which are Kudat, Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau.
He said in the operations, a total of 49,199 individuals were inspected and 5,092 who did not have any documents were detained and taken to temporary detention centres in Tawau, Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu and Papar, for documentation before sending them back to their countries of origin.
“All those individuals were investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/1963 (Amendment 2002) and Immigration Rules 1963.
“I would like to thank those agencies involved for their cooperation and support which led to the success of these operations, and ESSCom will continue to launch the operation in other districts in Sabah’s east coast to show that the government is committed in addressing any illegal activities, including illegal immigrants,” he said.
In another development, Wan Abdul reminded tugboat operators and fishermen to report their locations and movements to the ESSCom operation centre so that the security forces would be able to provide immediate help if anything happened to the crews.
He said ESSCom needed the cooperation from fishermen and operators to report any suspicious boats or individuals for immediate action.
“All crews must be aware of their environment and immediately contact ESSCom at 089 863181 if there are any suspicious boats or individuals approaching their boats,” he added.