The authorities in Malaysia have arrested as many as 154 foreign nationals, including 19 Nepalis, in a crackdown on illegal migrants in Kuala Lumpur.

Local news media reported that illegal migrants were arrested from a residential area in Bukit Bintang on Monday night.

During the crackdown on illegal migrants at a Bukit Bintang-based complex, the Malaysian government detained 60 Bangladeshi, 35 Burmese, 22 Indonesian, 19 Nepali, six Pakistani, four Vietnamese and one Indian nationals.

According to a government-run news agency Bernama, of the detained persons, 32 are women.

It is learnt that all the detained Nepalis are males.

Details about the arrested workers are yet to come.

According to the Malaysian authorities, the arrested migrants were found to be misusing visa and overstaying.

The local media reported that a 32-year-old Filipino died as she fell from the 15th floor during the crackdown.

The authorities, however, have claimed that she fell while trying to flee.

The Malaysian government had come with a policy of granting opportunity to legalise the illegal status of migrant workers from February to June. The authorities intensified its crackdown soon after the programme was over.

Malaysia is home to around two million migrant workers and it is believed that as many migrants are living in the country illegally.

According to estimates, around 500,000 Nepalis are in Malaysia.

16 workers rescued

Sixteen illegal Nepali migrant workers have been rescued from a deportation centre in Sepang. The migrant workers had been languishing at the deportation centre after completing jail term on charge of staying in Malaysia illegally due to lack of air tickets. The Embassy of Nepal in Kuala Lumpur said they were rescued with the financial help from the Foreign Employment Promotion Board of Nepal. They returned home on July 14 and 19.