Immigration raids Arab eateries in Bukit Bintang, nabs 45 foreign workers

Immigration raids Arab eateries in Bukit Bintang, nabs 45 foreign workers

PETALING JAYA: Some 45 foreign workers were detained in a raid conducted by the immigration department in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur last night.

The raid targeted foreign nationals employed by eight popular Arab eateries, Bernama reported.

KL immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the one-hour operation, which began at 10.40pm, resulted in the arrest of 40 men and five women, aged between 21 and 45.

He said the detainees comprised 14 Yemenis, 10 Bangladeshis, seven Syrians, four Pakistanis, four Egyptians, three Indonesians, one Afghan, one Filipino and a Myanmar national.

“All of them were found to have committed various immigration offences, including misuse of passes, lacking valid work permits, and possessing expired documents,” he said in a statement.

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According to Wan Mohammed, some of the foreign workers tried to escape by claiming to be customers at the restaurants during the raid.

“Fortunately, our preliminary surveillance and intelligence gathering easily thwarted the attempts by these foreign workers to disguise themselves as customers during the raid,” he said.

He added that the operation, involving 35 officers and personnel from the KL immigration department, was conducted following public complaints about the employment of foreign workers at the restaurants.

All detainees were brought to the Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot for further action. The case is being investigated under Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 and Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.