Following public complaints, the Immigration Department in Johor conducted enforcement operations at two different night markets in the state and arrested 18 foreign beggars.
The operations were conducted on February 3 (Monday) at two areas – Kampung Melayu Majidee and Taman Abad around 7 PM and in a statement this morning (February 5), the state Immigration Department revealed the nationalities of those caught.
- 4 Chinese nationals
- 4 Thailand nationals
- 3 men and 1 woman from Cambodia
- 2 men and 2 women from Syria
- 1 Bangladeshi
- 1 Pakistani
In the statement, the Director of Johor State Immigration, Dato’ Hj Mohd Rusdi said some of the beggars are disabled, and they used their disability to gain sympathy from visitors to the night markets.
The arrested beggars are aged between 40 and 69.
“Upon investigating, all of them could make in average RM600 per day.”
If you do the math, they could easily make up to RM18,000 per month.
The figure is an increase from one of the previous raids conducted at different night markets in the state, where the beggars could make around RM12,000 a month.
All the beggars had been taken to the Johor Immigration Department headquarters for investigation and the authorities are investigating the case under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
At the end of his statement, Datuk’ Hj Mohd Rusdi reminded all foreigners in the country to abide by the rules and regulations.
