Saturday August 21, 2010
Nabbed – ‘tourists’ who flew into KLIA to land themselves a job
Mstar Exclusive
By IWAN SHU-ASWAD SHUAIB
[email protected]
SEPANG: It is an organised tour with a difference – the only item on the itinerary is a job in Malaysia. However, the tour for over 7,000 foreigners, including Bangladeshis, Indian nationals and Pakistanis was cut short. All they got to see was the inside of the KL International Airport.
These foreigners, who had come into Malaysia on tourist visas purportedly for a holiday, were part of a syndicate with the ultimate aim of finding themselves jobs at the thousands of mamak restaurants throughout the country.
Suspicious tourist: A Bangladeshi being questioned by Immigration officers at KLIA on Thursday on suspicion of using a fake visa. He was among more than 7,000 foreigners detained at the airport this year for trying to enter the country by posing as tourists.— IWAN SHU-ASWAD SHUAIB / The Star
Their brief visit to Malaysia ended at the main entrance of KLIA when alert Immigration Department officers caught on to the ‘tourists’, half of whom had tried entering with forged passports and visas. They will be deported to their own countries on the next available flight.
Mstar Online, which was given access to immigration operations at the KLIA enforcement unit on Thursday night, saw several “foreign tourists” from Bangladesh who claimed to not know that they had entered using fake passports, which despite bearing their photographs, had personal details belonging to other people. Several other Bangladeshi “tourists” were also detained for trying to come into the country on fake visas manufactured by a syndicate in their home country.
Real versus phony: The original passport (left) and the fake one
This year alone, the department managed to detain and deport 7,413 foreigners in KLIA for trying to hoodwink their way into the country through such illegal means.
Its immigration director Mohd Zulfikar Ahmad said these foreigners were served with the “Not To Land” notice for failing to fulfil entry requirements. “These bogus tourists are among the 2.28 million foreigners who entered Malaysia via KLIA’s main terminal building and the low-cost carrier terminal between January and August this year.
“Of these bogus tourists, Bangladeshis recorded the highest number with 4,430 people, most of whom were believed to be victims of agents or syndicates,” he said, adding that Indian nationals were the second highest with 712 people, followed by the Pakistanis with 480. Mohd Zulfikar said that besides having forged passports and visas, these “tourists” did not not have return air tickets or even sufficient money.
“They have all been categorised as doubtful or suspicious foreign visitors, suspected of having the hidden agenda of entering the country to look for a job. “Those identified thus will be served with the notice, barring them from passing through the KLIA entrance and must be sent back to their country of origin on the next available flight,” he said.
He said the KLIA enforcement unit had arrested 791 foreigners at the airport’s entrance since January for offences under the Immigration Act, such as overstaying and having fake or no valid travel documents. Mohd Zulfikar said 201 foreigners were also arrested at the same time for offences under the Passport Act, such as possessing fake visas and impersonating.
