79 illegal immigrants nabbed at northern border

Source thestar, 8 May

Out of 'hell': Suspected ethnic Rohingya migrants, who were rescued by Thai officials from a jungle, being detained in Songkhla province. Police discovered a mass grave in Songkhla containing 26 bodies at an abandoned camp used by human traffickers. The remains were of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, police said. — EPA

by m. kumar

PADANG BESAR: Seventy-nine illegal immigrants from Myanmar trying to sneak into Malaysia were nabbed by police near the Malaysia-Thailand border.

Also arrested was a Malaysian who was trying to bring 12 Myanmar nationals into the country in a Proton Iswara.

The two groups were arrested in separate incidents yesterday in Bukit Kayu Hitam and Jitra.

Kubang Pasu OCPD Supt Abdul Rahim Abdullah said that in the first incident at around 12.30am yesterday, policemen patrolling the Immigration, Customs and Quarantine complex in Kayu Hitam saw a group of people crossing the border on foot near "check point C" of the complex.

"When my men approached them, they realised the group had no travel documents," he said in a statement yesterday.

The group, which included eight women and two children, were detained under the Immigration Act.

The second incident occurred at around 4.20am when police saw a group of men in a car behaving suspiciously in Jitra.

"When the policemen approached them, the car sped off and we gave chase. The chase ended on Jalan Kg Darat, Changloon, where 13 men, including the Malaysian, were arrested," he said.

All 12 Myanmar nationals did not have any travel documents.

Supt Abdul Rahim said the Malaysian was transporting the group to Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

"The case is being investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act and the Immigration Act," he said.