400,000 illegals expected to leave Malaysia under amnesty offer

Kuala Lumpur: Some 400,000 illegal immigrants are expected to leave Malaysia by December 31 under the Back For Good (B4G) programme introduced by the Malaysian Government to allow them to return to their countries of origin voluntarily.

Foreigners who have committed offenses or have overstayed in the country can from August 1 obtain valid travel documents from their countries’ embassy here. They must present to any of the 200 Immigration counters all over Malaysia their valid passports and air tickets and leave Malaysia within seven days of approval.

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said a compound of RM700 will be charged on foreigners participating in the programme and they will not be detained by the police on their way to the embassy or to the Immigration Department.

All foreign embassies and high commissions had been given a briefing on the programme to enable them to issue the required documents to their citizens.

Malaysia said that it was conducting the programme because “there are simply too many illegal immigrants in the country.”

By Nasir Yusoff
Contributor to AsiaN