Hundreds of suspected illegal workers detained in Malaysia
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Kuala Lumpur (dpa) - More than 600 suspected illegal workers were detained in Malaysia Sunday at the start of a three-month sweep against the country's estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants, a news report said.
A total of 414 immigrants were detained in the southern state of Melaka, 101 in the nearby Johor state, while 142 were detained in the northern states of Kedah and Perak, state-run news agency Bernama reported.
Most of those arrested were from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan and India, the report said.
Some 135,000 officers from the immigration department, police, and civil defence were deployed for the operation.
Armed forces chief Zulkifeli Zin said the army was ready to provide assistance to immigration officers.
Malaysia is the third-largest economy in South-East Asia, attracting migrant workers from its neighbours to work in construction, factories and rubber and palm oil plantations.
