SPECIAL REPORT | Ayu*, 25, has been hiding in the jungles since the government launched yet another crackdown on undocumented migrants at the stroke of midnight on June 30.

The smile on her face did not mask the underlying fear of being separated from her husband John*, who holds an Immigration Department’s enforcement card (E-card) - a temporary verification document issued pending approval of his work permit as a construction labourer at a nearby site.

“Most of the men already have their E-card, but we (women and children) are still ‘empty’ (undocumented),” she said, exposing them to threats of arrest and deportation.

Carrying her 16-month-old daughter, Ayu recounted the recent nights spent in the wilderness.

"Now we are sleeping in the jungle and only come up here to cook and take water.

"We have to run up and down (to the jungle). Sometimes in the middle of the night while carrying a baby," she said, when met at a project site about 60km away from Kuala Lumpur, in a neighbouring state.

"If she cries, I am afraid we will get caught. But I will do what I can to calm her down."...