KUALA LUMPUR: An average of 30 foreigners are detained daily for trying to sneak into Malaysia to look for work here.

They would enter via legal entry points, mostly through the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), Immigration Department director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said.

In some instances, they brought along their cooking utensils even though they were supposed to be here for a brief stopover and this aroused the suspicion of the authorities.“Between January and June, we have denied entry to 3,812 people from Bangladesh, India (812), Nigeria (295), Pakistan (361) and Vietnam (112).

“Foreigners are trying to exploit the transit pass to enter Malaysia before giving us the slip to look for jobs in the country,” he told a press conference in Pusat Bandar Damansara yesterday.

To counter the problem, he said the department had developed an effective method of interviewing foreign visitors to identify their intention of visiting the country.

He said foreigners who had been denied entry would be deported to their home country within 72 hours and the cost would be borne by the airline. However, if the person is denied entry after 72 hours upon arrival, the Malaysian Government would bear the deportation cost.

He declined to comment if a syndicate or illegal party had been trying to bring these foreigners to work in Malaysia.