Malaysian authorities have arrested around 80 illegal Nepali migrants who have overstayed their visa. The Southeast Asian government began cracking down on all illegal migrant workers from the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

According to deputy director at the Enforcement Division of the Malaysian Department of Immigration M Saravana Kumar, “Those arrested and the employers will be investigated before the illegal migrants are deported to their homeland. If the concerned company fails to present sufficient evidence regarding the illegal stay of the migrant, it will be prosecuted as well. Those arrested will be sent back home once the travel documents and flight tickets are made available to them.”

The Malaysian government has been deploying all security agencies to arrest illegal workers.

Earlier in September, around 1,000 illegal Nepali migrants were arrested by the Malaysian police following the launch of a similar crackdown. The operation was launched after many illegal migrants who had enrolled for amnesty in 2011 later ‘disappeared’. Around 400,000 Nepalis are currently employed in Malaysia.

Published on: 22 January 2014 | The Himalayan Times