Malaysian immigration police detained 107 foreign nationals including Bangladeshis yesterday for working without valid documents at a construction site in Penang state.

State immigration assistant director Abdul Rahman Hassan said 467 workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan were checked during a raid conducted in a seven-storey building at Jalan Chain Ferry, reports The Star, Malaysian English daily today.

“We checked floor by floor as the workers were living in makeshift quarters on the seventh floor. Of 107 detainees, 95 males, seven females and three children were found,” he added.

The detainees were taken to the Seberang Jaya headquarters for documentation and later sent to the Immigration detention camp in Juru.

Md Sayedul Islam, counselor (Labour Wing) at Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur, said they could not contact with the immigration department to know about the Bangladeshis immediately.

“We don’t know how many Bangladeshis have been detained. But we will communicate with the Immigration Department in this regard soon,” he told The Daily Star over phone today.

The undocumented foreigners, who work without any work permit or valid papers, usually face short term imprisonment and later deportation.