KUALA LUMPUR: Approximately 27,000 foreign nationals in Malaysia who violated immigration laws have used a government programme that allows them to return home by paying a small fine.
The Migrant Repatriation Programme, which began on March 1, will run until December 31. As of December 9, those who have applied to return through the programme have paid a total of RM13.12 million (US$2.96 million) in fines, according to Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff, director of the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department.
The programme processes over 350 applications daily, with fines ranging from RM300 to RM500, depending on the offence. Common violations include overstaying or breaching visa conditions.
Applicants must provide valid travel documents and flight tickets, and they may seek assistance from their respective embassies. Immigration officials have stressed that no agents or third parties are authorized to handle applications.
For workers like Yogendra, a Nepali migrant, the programme offers a safe and straightforward way to return home. “I had a passport, but it recently expired. I came early and paid a RM500 fine,” said the 26-year-old, who had worked in Malaysia for two years.
Zainuddin, an Indonesian worker, travelled from Johor to Terengganu with a friend to avoid long queues at larger Immigration offices. He had worked on palm oil plantations since June 2022 without a valid work permit. “Our employer kept delaying our permits,” the 37-year-old explained.
The World Bank estimates that between 2018 and 2020, Malaysia had between 1.2 to 3.5 million undocumented migrants, primarily from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. In comparison, the number of documented migrants during the same period was around 1.4 to 2 million.
Many of these migrants work in low-skilled, labour-intensive industries such as construction, agriculture, and manufacturing, often in jobs that are considered dirty, dangerous, or demeaning.
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