The anti-graft agency should probe how the agents managed to obtain approvals from the immigration department for the Bangladeshi workers, considering that there were no available jobs for these foreigners, he said on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Sivarasa, a former deputy rural development minister, said the Bangladeshi workers were merely victims of the agents who had misled them.

“The immigration department should not treat the Bangladeshi workers as criminals who have violated immigration laws. Instead, they should recognise that these workers are victims of the agents who misled them into breaking these laws.”

A group of Bangladeshis spotted marching towards the Bayu Damai police station, in a now viral video, were arrested on Wednesday.

Kota Tinggi police chief Hussin Zamora said the workers wanted to lodge a police report against the agents for not providing them the promised jobs.

Hussin said the foreign workers, were not undocumented migrants as they had entered the country legally through recruitment agents, but had been unemployed for three to six months.

He said a police team was sent to the location following a report by the Malaysian armed forces on the march.

Hussin also said that according to the immigration department, the Bangladeshi workers were aged between 19 and 43.

He said they were detained under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for overstaying and had been sent to the Setia Tropika immigration department in Johor Bahru.

Human resource minister Steven Sim could not be reached for comment.

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