JOHOR BARU: The Immigration Department detained 116 Indian and Sri Lankan citizens at a luxury condominium in Jalan Abdul Samad here who are believed to have been using the place as a transit point before they headed off to Indonesia and then on to Australia.
Johor Immigration deputy assistant director Muhammad Ali Abdullah said the persons aged between seven months and 50 years were detained at about 1pm after the Immigration Department received information from the police.
"More than 20 rooms were occupied by the foreigners, believed to be rented by smuggling agents. It is believed that three of the agents were also living at the place but they escaped during the raid," he told reporters here Tuesday.
Muhammad Ali said investigation revealed that some of the foreigners came with their families via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport since a month ago.
He said it was found that some had passports that had expired and some had refugee status documents from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Muhammad Ali said they would be investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963 for not having valid travelling documents and under Section 15(1)(c) of the same act for overstaying.
He said they were all sent to the Pekan Nenas detention centre in Pontian. - The Star
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