00:00Immigration personnel faced considerable challenges,
00:03detaining over 100 undocumented migrants
00:06during a midnight operation on Saturday
00:08in a remote village in Sabah's Ranau district,
00:11about 100 km from Kota Kinabalu.
00:14The 52-member team took nearly an hour to reach Kampung Lutut
00:17via a hilly dirt road accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles,
00:21crossing three tributaries along the way.
00:24Upon arrival, some migrants attempted to flee, prompting a chase.
00:28Limited telecommunication access complicated coordination efforts.
00:31Sabah Immigration Director Datuk Sharifah Siti Saleha Habib Yusof
00:35reported that of the 220 individuals screened,
00:38145 were detained, including 62 men, 33 women,
00:44and 50 children from the Philippines and Indonesia,
00:47aged from three months to 62 years.
00:50Offenses included lack of personal documents,
00:53overstaying and harboring undocumented migrants
00:56with one Malaysian citizen suspected but not yet detained.
01:00The detainees will be held at the Kota Kinabalu Immigration Depot
01:04for further investigation.
01:06Siti Saleha emphasized that operations to detect,
01:09arrest and deport foreigners violating immigration laws will continue.
01:14The department reminded the public and employers
01:17that harboring undocumented migrants is illegal,
01:20urging anyone with information on their whereabouts to assist the authorities.
01:26For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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