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“Eyewitnesses state that immigration officers placed ‘yellow tags’ on the migrants and refugees, before carting them away into four immigration trucks.”

While these incidents could not be verified, episodes of violent treatment of Burmese migrants by Malaysian authorities have been previously documented. A 2010 report by the international human rights watchdog Amnesty International  detailed cases of canning aggravated by acid placed on the victims' wounds.

Meanwhile, high fees for the registration process have deterred many illegal foreign workers from taking part in the existing 6P scheme. Work placement agents reportedly demand high fees for registration, and employers often put the financial burden onto their workers.

Migrants have to pay a fee for biometric registration and an additional fee for a work permit. The fees for a work permit range from 360 ringgit (US $120) for agricultural workers to 1,800 ringgit ($600) for restaurant workers and cleaners, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs website.

Malaysia has not yet signed the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, dating back to 1959. It protects refugees from forcible return to their country of origin.

Last week, Malaysian immigration authorities denied 23-year-old Saudi Arabian blogger Hamza Kashgari's request for asylum. He was repatriated to Saudi Arabia, where he faces the death penalty if convicted on blasphemy charges. Last year, Malaysia deported eleven Uighur refugees to an unknown fate in China.