NIBONG TEBAL: In the first three months of this year, a total of 12,380 illegal immigrants have been sent back to their respective countries, says Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.
Ruslin said of the 12,380 inmates, 9,606 were men while the remaining were women.
“Those who had been sent back were from the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar,” he said during the closing ceremony of the temporary Sungai Bakap immigration depot yesterday.
He said it could take two weeks to six months to send an illegal immigrant to the home country, unless the person had the necessary documents to facilitate the deportation.
The depot, which has been operational for two years since Feb 15, 2021, will be officially closed on April 1 and the key to the depot will be handed over back to the owner of the site, Syarikat Sri Impian Holiday & Recreation Sdn Bhd.
It was opened at the height of the pandemic to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus as well as to house illegal immigrants who could not be sent back at that time.
Ruslin said the last batch of 33 illegal immigrants at the Sungai Bakap temporary immigration depot had been moved to other immigration depots.
There are 21 immigration depots in the country, including three which are temporary ones.
