HAVING sent nearly 100, 000 illegal aliens home via a repatriation programme, the Immigration Department said more of them could take up the offer to be sent home if the programme is extended till the year-end.

Its director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud told The Star the extension was necessary as more time was needed to process the applications which had come to a halt because of the lockdown.

“With an extension, we expect more undocumented migrants to take up the offer to go back. We also hope that employers will take the extra time given to them to register their foreign workers in order to give them proper documentation, ” the portal quoted him as saying.

Khairul said of the 97, 892 illegal immigrants who had taken up the offer to be repatriated, 80,284 had returned home. The rest are waiting to be sent home

He said 110, 817 illegal workers had taken up the offer of registration and that their names and personal details were already in the system. – June 12, 2021.