562 RI workers nabbed in KL crackdown

562 RI workers nabbed in KL crackdown

MALAYSIA: Authorities detained 868 people, including 562
Indonesians, in the first three days of a nationwide crackdown on
illegal foreign workers, a report said on Saturday.

They were among more than 11,000 migrants screened after a
four-month amnesty ended at midnight on Monday, The Star
newspaper said.

Illegal workers caught face possible fines, jail terms and
whipping with a rattan cane before deportation. They are also
barred from returning to Malaysia.

About 450,000 illegal workers are believed to have left
Malaysia during the amnesty period, with an estimated 400,000
still remaining in the country.

Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho said the crackdown was being
carried out in a firm and orderly manner.

"Those selected for screening are very cooperative," the
newspaper quoted Tan as saying. "They don't fight back. But if
someone should get violent, the police would be called in."

International and local human rights groups have voiced
concerns that some of the 300,000 police, immigration officials
and volunteers taking part in the raids might use excessive force
while trying to detain suspects.

Other than Indonesians, those detained so far include 110 from
the Philippines, 73 from Myanmar, 34 from Thailand and 26 from
Bangladesh, the report said. The rest are from France, India,
Nepal, Britain, Pakistan, the United States, Vietnam, China,
Italy, Croatia and South Korea, it said.