MALAYSIAN authorities have raided a construction site and detained 77 foreigners as part of a fresh crackdown on illegal immigration.
Immigration officials said more than 3,000 foreigners and 63 employers who hired workers illegally have been detained since a sweep began July 1 targeting the workforce of foreigners who come to Malaysia illegally to work mostly low-wage jobs in the construction, plantation and service industries.
As one of Southeast Asia's richest countries, Malaysia has long attracted workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and India.
Immigration officials who conducted the midnight raid Tuesday and Wednesday at the construction site in northern Negeri Sembilan state found 77 of the 85 workers on site had no valid documents. Most of them are Indonesians. (AP)