On the daily press conference hosted by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob this afternoon (30 May), he announced that the undocumented immigrants in Malaysia will be deported to their respective countries starting 6 June.
The Senior Minister revealed that the deportation operation will start off with Indonesian illegal immigrants, but first, they will be tested for Covid-19 in the presence of officials from the Indonesian embassy.
Ismail Sabri also mentioned that the Indonesians will be tested with the Rapid Test Kit Antigen (RTK Antigen) method.
“All Indonesian illegal immigrants will undergo Covid-19 testing via the Rapid Test Kit Antigen (RTK Antigen) method first in the presence of officials from the Indonesian embassy before being sent back.”
There will be a total of 2,189 Indonesians who will be involved in the first phase of deportation on 6 June, and they’re currently being detained at immigration depots in the Peninsula and Sarawak. Another 672 Indonesians are detained at depots in Sabah.
According to The Star, the deportation process will include both air and sea travels. It was reported that 895 people will be sent back to Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya via flights, while 1,294 people will be sent back to Medan via sea.
Besides the Indonesian undocumented immigrants, the Immigration Department and Wisma Putra are negotiating with Nepalese and Bangladeshi officials. There are a total of 246 Nepalese and 2,476 Bangladeshi people who are involved in this operation.
“The Cambodian embassy has also expressed their willingness to assist in the deportation of 67 of their citizens. We hope other countries will come forward and cooperate with the deportation of their citizens, who are being held at depots nationwide,” Ismail Sabri said.
There is a total of 4,807 undocumented immigrants who are currently settled at immigration depots at Bukit Jalil, KLIA and Semenyih, as well as the personnel at the Immigration Department who had undergone tests and screenings for Covid-19.
Results of the screenings have shown that a total of 385 people tested Covid-19 positive, which included an Immigration personnel at Semenyih. 37 others are still waiting for their results.
Ismail Sabri mentioned that the immigrants who are Covid-19 positive were sent to the quarantine centre at MAEPS.
“Those who tested positive are sent to the quarantine centre at MAEPS, Serdang. So far, 26 illegal immigrants have been discharged and in the process of being sent back.”
Also read: PDRM Arrested Hundreds of Undocumented Immigrants in Efforts to Stop Spreading Covid-19
