KAJANG, Aug 12- A Myanmar couple claimed they paid about RM6,000 to a skipper in Thailand to smuggle their family into Malaysia by sea route.
The 37-year-old woman said the payment was made to arrange the journey for her, her husband and their two children from Myanmar before they were brought in via Langkawi waters on an illegal boat.
“My family paid about RM6,000 to come to Malaysia. My husband made the arrangements and paid the Thai national who brought us here from Myanmar,” she said when met during ‘Op Sasar’ conducted by the Immigration Department of Malaysia and National Registration Department at Suteramas Apartment here last night.
She said they travelled separately, with her husband entering the country first with their 14-year-old son, while she followed later with their seven-year-old daughter.
According to the woman, her family has been in Malaysia for about a year and a half and is now seeking refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The woman said she and her husband are now working at a furniture factory in Kajang and renting a room for RM500 a month.
Meanwhile, another 24-year-old Myanmar woman admitted to paying RM3,000 to a local man acting as a land route agent to help her enter the country through an illegal route.
She said she was introduced to the man by a friend before engaging his services to enter Malaysia through Sungai Golok, Kelantan, about five months ago.
“I entered through an illegal route in Sungai Golok, Kelantan, before continuing my journey by car. I have been in Malaysia for about five months and work at a factory in the area,” she said.
During the 10.30 pm operation, some foreigners attempted to flee upon noticing the presence of enforcement personnel, with some hiding inside residential units while others jumped from the second floor of the building in an attempt to escape.
A total of 330 individuals were inspected and 248 foreigners were detained for further investigation under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
