239 Indonesian illegal immigrants sent back from Sabah

TAWAU: A total of 239 Indonesian illegal immigrants were transferred from the Immigration Detention Depot in Sabah and sent back to their home country yesterday.

According to Berita Harian, this transfer operation is part of an ongoing effort by the Malaysian Immigration Department, Sabah, to handle foreign detainees placed in all four Immigration Depots in Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Sandakan, and Tawau, in collaboration with the Indonesian Consulate General in Kota Kinabalu (KJRI) and the Indonesian Consulate (KRI) in Tawau.

Sabah Immigration Director Datuk SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said that the 14th series of deportations yesterday involved 186 male detainees, 41 female detainees, and 12 children with their parents, aged between two and 76 years.

“All of them were transported directly from Tawau Ferry Terminal to Nunukan Port, Terminal Tunon Taka in Indonesia, using the Francis Express and Purnama Express ferry services,” she said in a statement today.

Further commenting, SH Sitti Saleha stated that all the illegal immigrants who were sent back had previously been detained at Immigration Depots across Sabah for various offenses under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Immigration Regulations 1963 and had completed their sentences.

“To date, a total of 5,048 foreign detainees have been repatriated by air and sea, with 1,783 of them being Indonesian detainees who have been sent back as of September this year.”