2,000 illegals register on first day

More than 2,000 illegal immigrants and foreign workers in Sabah came forward yesterday to take advantage of the amnesty programme and register themselves and their family members.

Some came to the registration counters as early as 8am while others came after the lunch hour to avoid long queues, said Sabah Immigration Department enforcement chief Abdul Khalid Hj Abdul Karim.

He said those who came to register were illegal immigrants who did not have any valid travel document when entering the country, who overstayed, who violated their passes and those who got their passports from their country’s consulate.

“Once they are registered, they are required to go back to their respective countries to get the proper documents and passports from their consulates before they are allowed to re-enter Malaysia,” he said when met at the Tun Fuad Stephen community hall here yesterday.

According to Abdul Khalid, under the two-week amnesty programme from yesterday until Aug 1, there is no cooling off period for illegal immigrants, meaning they must register themselves and their dependents and leave the country within the period.

“After the 14 days is up, we will carry out operations to track them down and if they are caught without proper documents, we will detain them,” he said.

It is estimated that 500,000 illegal immigrants will turn up by Aug 1 to register themselves and return to their countries to obtain valid travel documents.

The programme is conducted at nine locations statewide, namely Tun Fuad Stephen community hall in Penampang, Tun Mustapha community hall in Kudat, Ranau community hall, Sibuga community hall in Sandakan, Sipitang community hall, Sri Tawau community hall, Sri Indah community hall in Semporna, Keningau community hall and Perdana community hall in Lahad Datu.

The counters are open from 8am to 5pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on weekends, and the registration forms can be obtained from the counters free of charge.

The programme consists of ‘5Ps’, namely Pendaftaran (Registration), Pengampunan (Amnesty), Pemantauan (Monitoring), Penguatkuasaan (Enforcement) and Pengusiran (Expulsion).