She said she recently visited the Juru IDC and found no instances of abuse, adding that human rights groups such as Suhakam had concurred with her findings.
“We give three to four meals to the detainees daily, too. If there are any cases of abuse, I will take disciplinary action on the officers involved.
“We have to fulfil our human rights obligations,” she told reporters at the state immigration headquarters in Perai.
HRW had quoted ex-detainees as saying they were physically abused and forced to live in squalor.
It also alleged that children were held with adults who were not blood relatives.
Zulfa said 315 people were being held at the Juru IDC, mostly comprising Bangladeshis, Myanmar nationals and Indonesians. She said the maximum capacity at the facility was 500 persons.
She said children under 13 were allowed to remain with their mothers, while teenagers aged 13 to 18 were placed in cells with adults, according to current procedure.
Zulfa said another IDC with a 1,300-person capacity was being built in Jawi, near Nibong Tebal, and is slated to be completed in July.
Separately, Zulfa said that this year, her department would ramp up operations, doubling last year’s 400-plus raids to at least 800.
She said her enforcement officers would also focus on arresting and prosecuting employers who hire undocumented migrants.
“If you think we are just after undocumented migrants, we are not. We are after employers, too,” she said.
Penang immigration carried out 435 raids last year, with 588 undocumented migrants arrested and 42 employers facing legal action.
In 2024, as of yesterday, Zulfa said officers had carried out 166 raids, detaining 116 migrants and eight employers.
She said most of those detained were Bangladeshis, Indonesians and Myanmar nationals, mostly factory and construction workers who had overstayed or did not possess valid travel documents.
She said Penang immigration had approved 21,068 persons to work, out of 24,035 applicants in the workers recalibration programme.
Rejected applicants mostly failed health screenings, she said.
Zulfa said under the new repatriation programme, foreigners who want to voluntarily return to their home countries can do so at any immigration office by paying a RM500 compound.
They are required to make an appointment through the immigration website before heading to the office.
She also urged the public to report anything suspicious to immigration officials by calling 04-397-4711.