Under the quarters, among the rubbish – still nowhere to hide

BINTULU: Hiding beneath a workers’ quarters and behind piles of rubbish did little to help several foreigners evade immigration officers during enforcement operations here.

Handout photo shows foreigners being rounded up for inspections following ‘Ops Selera’ and ‘Ops Mahir’ raids in Bintulu.

Their hiding spots were uncovered after immigration enforcement officers carried out a thorough search, with some forced to crawl into the cramped space beneath the quarters and sift through piles of rubbish to flush the foreigners out.

The Sarawak Immigration Department said the integrated operations were conducted by the Bintulu Immigration Enforcement Division and Bintulu Marine Police on September 21.

Six locations around Bintulu town were inspected during ‘Ops Selera’ and ‘Ops Mahir’.

Handout photo shows foreigners being rounded up for inspections following ‘Ops Selera’ and ‘Ops Mahir’ raids in Bintulu.

Several foreigners attempted to flee when checks were carried out, scrambling to hide in areas they believed would be difficult for enforcement officers to access.

Some chose the space beneath workers’ quarters while others concealed themselves behind piles of rubbish.

But their hiding game came to an end when the enforcement team searched the area and flushed them out.

The operations resulted in 84 foreigners being detained after 127 individuals were inspected.

Those detained comprised 67 adult men, 16 adult women and a boy. Of the total, 82 were Indonesians while two were from the Philippines.

Handout photo shows foreigners being rounded up for inspections following ‘Ops Selera’ and ‘Ops Mahir’ raids in Bintulu.

All those detained were taken to Bekenu Immigration Detention Depot for further actions.

The department said enforcement operations with relevant agencies would continue to ensure compliance with immigration laws and curb violations involving foreigners in Sarawak.