JERTIH, Jan 3 — A Myanmar man with a forged UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card was among 25 foreigners arrested in the Op Kutip and Op Belanja conducted by the Immigration Department here yesterday.
Terengganu Immigration director Azhar Abd Hamid said the man, in his 20s, had been moving around freely using the fake UNHCR card as he thought the authorities would be unable to detect him.
He said the 25 immigrants, aged between 20 and 55, were nabbed in the operations involving 26 immigration officers from 7am to 7pm in Besut.
“The Myanmar man claimed he bought the card from a friend in Johor for RM150. Checks showed that the card belonged to a woman.
“A total of 154 immigrants from various countries including Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia, were inspected in the operations,” he told a news conference at the Besut immigration office here.
Azhar said they were detained for various offences under the Immigration Act, including non-possession of personal identification documents, overstaying, and violating visit pass conditions. All of them have been sent to the Ajil Immigration Detention Depot for further action.
He said four motorcycles and a car driven by the Myanmar man were seized in the operations.
The Terengganu immigration had arrested 209 immigrants out of the more than 1,400 inspected during 102 operations conducted so far this year, he said. — Bernama