Over 1,000 employers arrested this year for employing or sheltering undocumented migrants, says the Immigration Department.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The Immigration Department (JIM) has arrested 1,005 employers between January 1 and July 3 this year for allegedly hiring or harbouring undocumented migrants.

According to JIM director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban, the arrests spanned various sectors such as restaurants, factories, and retail shops, with most offenders being locals found sheltering undocumented foreign nationals.

“As of July, we’ve reached 70 per cent of our Key Performance Indicator (KPI), and I’m confident we’ll surpass our target by the end of the year,” he said at the IMI KL Run and Customer Engagement Day held today.

Also in attendance was Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff.

Between January and early July, JIM carried out 6,913 operations nationwide, screening 97,322 foreign nationals and arresting 26,320 individuals suspected of immigration offences.

Zakaria stressed that enforcement efforts will be intensified, with zero tolerance for undocumented migrants. He also noted that the department is closely monitoring more than 200 identified hotspots across the country, including remote and rural areas.

He added that public outreach initiatives like today’s programme — which attracted over 800 participants — will continue to enhance community engagement.

The IMI KL Run featured two race categories: five kilometres and 10 kilometres, taking place around the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office. — Bernama