Malaysia begins deporting illegal RI immigrants<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysia has begun deporting Indonesians seized in the roundup of
\nthousands of people under a crackdown targeting illegal
\nimmigrants and any armed militants hiding among them, a senior
\ngovernment official said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Dozens of Indonesians detained in the massive sweep across the
\neastern state of Sabah, on Borneo island, have been sent home
\nsince Tuesday, while hundreds more will soon follow, said
\nAbdullah Sani Sulaiman, the state's chief immigration officer.<\/p>\n
Malaysia detained nearly 8,000 suspected illegal immigrants in
\na sweep that began earlier this week in its eastern Sabah state,
\npolice said on Friday.<\/p>\n
The detainees were mostly Indonesian and Filipino nationals
\nwho had sneaked into the state on Borneo, a giant forested island
\nwhich lies just south of the Philippines and is shared by
\nIndonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.<\/p>\n
A police statement said that by mid-afternoon on Friday, a
\ntotal of 7,676 immigrants had been detained for screening and
\n1,865 marked for deportation. Hundreds of their homes have been
\nbulldozed.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Filipinos seized during the same operation are
\nexpected to be sent home within two weeks, Abdullah said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia increasingly sees illegal immigrants as a security
\nthreat, and the crackdown coincides with the detention of Islamic
\nmilitants -- some of them from Indonesia -- accused of taking
\npart in an alleged plot to blow up U.S. targets in neighboring
\nSingapore.<\/p>\n
Sabah lies near the predominantly Muslim southern Philippines,
\nand separatists fighting the Philippine government have sought
\nrefuge in Sabah in the past. The Abu Sayyaf gang, which has links
\nto the al-Qaeda terror network, kidnapped tourists and resort
\nworkers from Sabah in 2000.<\/p>\n
Malaysia has beefed up security in its territorial waters with
\nthe Philippines recently. Philippine forces put down a bloody
\nrevolt by one group of Moro separatists in November and are being
\nassisted by U.S. troops to destroy Abu Sayyaf.<\/p>\n
None of the detainees has so far been identified as a
\nmilitant.<\/p>\n
Abdullah said that the deported Indonesians were being put on
\nboats plying daily between Sabah and the Indonesian island of
\nNunukan. Filipinos will be shipped to Zamboanga in the southern
\nPhilippines.<\/p>\n
"Deporting Philippine citizens takes more time, because the
\nPhilippine Embassy has to issue them individual travel
\ndocuments," Abdullah told The Associated Press by telephone from
\nKota Kinabalu, Sabah's capital.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-begins-deporting-illegal-ri-immigrants-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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