TAPAH – A group of 13 illegal immigrants on the run after fleeing the Bidor Temporary Immigration Depot attempted to seek sympathy and shelter from a guava farm worker in Kg Senta here, telling a sob story about being cheated by a job syndicate.
However, the Indonesian worker known as Ali, in his 40s, did not buy their story but kept his composure and later tipped off the Immigration Department about their presence.
Ali, who has been working on an 80.9ha farm for more than 10 years, said he was at the orchard when he came across one of the illegal immigrants.
“He claimed they were cheated out of work, were hungry and needed shelter from the rain. One of them could speak Malay well.
“I guessed as much that they were the escaped detainees, so I gave them food and drink and let them into my house before reporting the matter to immigration,” he divulged when met by reporters at the orchard here yesterday.
The recapture of the 13 detainees brings the total number of arrests to 39, with the remaining 92 still being sought by security forces.
On Tuesday, 131 illegal immigrants, comprising 115 Rohingya, 15 Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi, escaped from the men’s block during a riot at the Bidor Temporary Immigration Detention Depot.
However, one detainee died in a road accident at KM335 of the North-South Expressway.
Meanwhile, the media, which had followed the authorities to the guava orchard to arrest the 13 illegal immigrants, had to trudge through mud and riverbeds to get there as the path to the farm traverses a creek only passable by four-wheel drive vehicles.
Upon arriving at the location, all the immigrants were herded to an open area before being taken to the Tapah district police headquarters. – February 4, 2024