Over 27,000 foreign immigration offenders in Malaysia take advantage of government programme to return home

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 27,000 foreign nationals in Malaysia guilty of immigration offences have taken advantage of a government programme that allows them to return home just by paying a nominal fine.

The initiative, called the Migrant Repatriation Programme, started on Mar 1 and is scheduled to end on Dec 31.

Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff told local media on Monday (Dec 9) that those who have applied to return to their home countries through the programme have paid RM13.12 million (US$2.96 million) in fines.

“We process more than 350 applications daily,” he was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.

According to the Immigration Department, those who wish to return home via the initiative will have to pay a fine of between RM300 and RM500, depending on the nature of their offence.

This may include overstaying in the country or breaching their visa conditions.

Wan Mohammed, the immigration official, also told local media that the respective applicants must provide valid travel documents and flight tickets. They may also consult their respective embassies for assistance.

“No agents or third parties are authorised to handle applications on behalf of the Immigration Department,” he warned.

For Nepali worker Yogendra, the repatriation programme gave him a chance to leave Malaysia after two years of working in the country.

“I have a passport, but it recently expired. So, I came here early and only needed to pay a RM500 fine. This is a safe way for me to return home without fear of detention,” the 26-year-old was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.

An Indonesian worker, Zainuddin, meanwhile travelled from Johor to Terengganu with his friend to apply for the repatriation programme there so as to avoid long queues at the Immigration Department offices in larger cities.

“We were promised permits, but our employer kept delaying,” said the 37-year-old, who had worked on palm oil plantations since June 2022 without proper work permits.

The World Bank estimates that there were 1.2 to 3.5 million undocumented migrants in Malaysia between 2018 and 2020, mainly those who hail from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the number of documented migrants during the same period were around 1.4 to 2 million.

Most migrant workers in Malaysia work in labour-intensive sectors such as construction, agriculture and manufacturing as well as occupations considered to be dirty, dangerous or demeaning, better known as 3D jobs.