KUALA LUMPUR - Nearly 13,000 undocumented migrants have been detained in Sabah this year, according to Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The senior minister said the arrests were made as part of the ongoing Ops Benteng, a nationwide joint operation between enforcement agencies to safeguard the country’s borders and eliminate cross-border crimes to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
He said this during his daily press conference aired live on Facebook today.
“In Sabah, which has been under the spotlight lately (for the high number of Covid-19 cases, especially those involving undocumented migrants), 12,877 of undocumented migrants have been detained up to October 13.
“And there are currently 5,204 who are still placed at detention centres, while 7,673 have been deported,” he said.
Of those who are still being detained, Ismail said 4,456 are from the Philippines, 618 from Indonesia, and 130 from other countries.
On October 3, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Sabah originated from undocumented migrants entering the state.
Ismail urged those with information on undocumented migrants and cross border crimes to contact the National Task Force hotline at 011-6251 1223.
Meanwhile, the minister said a total of 284 individuals were detained nationwide yesterday for violating the recovery movement control order (RMCO).
Of this, 278 individuals have been issued compounds while six were detained.
Ismail Sabri said among the offences committed include failure to wear face masks (134), not adhering to social distancing (68), failure to provide entry logs and equipment at premises (33), premises operating over hours (16), and taking part in activities at entertainment centres (8).
He said following the implementation of the conditional movement control order in the Klang Valley beginning today, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the CMCO in the Klang sub-district is now void.
Klang was placed under CMCO for two weeks beginning October 9.
“As such, the CMCO SOPs for Selangor applies to Klang,” he said. – The Vibes, October 14, 2020
