The Immigration Department of Malaysia (JIM) in Perlis has established a Special Task Force to monitor and verify the presence records of the Rohingya community across the state.
Perlis Immigration director Mohammad A’sim Md Ali said the initiative, under the Enforcement Division, was introduced following public complaints received from time to time regarding the presence of foreign nationals.
He said the complaints commonly involved issues of undocumented migrants, as well as alleged unauthorised residence, employment activities and business operations.
The task force has been tasked with carrying out monitoring and data verification efforts to obtain a more accurate picture of the community’s presence in the state.
“Preliminary checks found that some individuals in the local community possessed UNHCR registration cards,” he said in a statement.
However, he added that authorities recently received 39 Rohingya individuals handed over by relevant agencies for further action.
Initial checks found that all of them did not possess valid travel documents and are currently being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
In a separate update, JIM Perlis carried out 153 enforcement operations between January and May this year, including 34 intelligence and monitoring activities.
During the period, 118 foreign nationals were detained for various immigration offences, while compounds collected amounted to RM369,570.
