ABRI says 14 rebels among deported workers

ABRI says 14 rebels among deported workers

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) claim it has so far
discovered 14 Acehnese separatists among thousands of Indonesian
workers recently deported by Malaysian authorities.

ABRI chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Wahab Mokodongan said
here Thursday that military and police officers in Lhokseumauwe,
Aceh, had yet to determine the identify of many of the deported
workers and that thousands more were expected imminently.

"So, the number of Aceh separatists among them is expected to
increase," he said.

Approximately 5,500 Indonesian migrants were recently deported
by Malaysian authorities after an operation to round up illegal
workers.

Among those deported were hundreds of Acehnese involved in a
bloody riot with Malaysian police in detention camps in Semenyih,
near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The riot left eight
Indonesians and one Malaysian policeman dead.

The violence broke out when Malaysian police began to transfer
the illegal immigrants from detention camps to a nearby port for
transfer to Indonesia.

Mokodongan said the circumstances of the 14 separatists were
being thoroughly investigated.

The 14 would be given a short lecture and forced to attend a
course on Indonesian development before being sent back to their
home villages, provided their villages were ready to accept them,
Mokodongan said.

Asked about the Acehnese migrants seeking asylum at the UNHCR
office in Kuala Lumpur, Mokodongan said that they were acting
within their rights, despite being Indonesian citizens. ABRI
would therefore not interfere in the situation.

"The case is being handled by the UNHCR and Malaysian
authorities," he said, adding that ABRI would treat the asylum
seekers as suspected separatists should they decided to return
home. (rms)