Crackdown on illegal starts March

Crackdown on illegal starts March

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia will crack down hard on Indonesian illegal immigrants
from March 1, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Monday
after talks with visiting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The new deadline, which could see hundreds of thousands of
illegal workers jailed, canned or deported, will mark the end of
an amnesty which has twice been extended at Indonesia's request.

Abdullah made the announcement at a joint news conference with
Susilo after the two leaders held a private meeting.

"The soft operation to advise illegals to return home will
continue until the end of February. We hope by then, all illegals
will return home," Abdullah said as quoted by AFP.

"Because from March 1 we will crack down on the illegals."

The deported workers would be blacklisted and not allowed to
enter Malaysia ever again, even as tourists, Home Minister Azmi
Khalid was quoted by AP as saying.

Susilo appeared to endorse the Malaysian stand, saying "we
want to resolve any problem we have in good spirits, especially
of Indonesians working illegally in Malaysia."

The comments signaled an easing of tensions between the two
countries over the issue of illegal migrant workers. Since
Malaysia announced an amnesty in October for the 1 million
illegal migrant workers in the country -- most of them
Indonesians -- about 400,000 have left but another 500,000 have
remained.

The Indonesian government has said they are awaiting back
wages from unscrupulous employers who are refusing to pay several
months' salaries.

Abdullah said the wage dispute does not involve the Malaysian
government, but it is willing to coax employers to be fair.

Besides the illegal workers, some 1.47 million Indonesians are
in Malaysia with legal work permits. Indonesian workers form the
backbone of Malaysia's work force in menial jobs that Malaysians
refuse to do -- on construction sites and plantations, in
restaurants and other low-paying sectors.

Last week the government of Indonesia accused Malaysia of
turning a blind eye to the unethical employers.

The problem had threatened to blow up into a major diplomatic
spat after the government of Indonesia said it had hired lawyers
to sue the Malaysian employers. Indonesian Minister of Manpower
and Transmigration Fahmi Idris even urged Malaysia to cane such
employers, triggering an uproar among Malaysian officials who
argued they didn't need to be lectured on how to deal with their
errant citizens.

On Monday, Fahmi said any legal action against the employers
will be taken by the workers and not the government. The lawyers
were hired by the government only to facilitate the workers, he
told AP.

"We agreed to settle the problem of Indonesian migrant
workers, relating to their illegal status or their unpaid wages
on a cooperative basis," said Fahmi, part of Susilo's entourage.

"The government of Malaysia is trying to encourage the
employers to pay up quickly. So Indonesia is leaving this fully
to the Malaysian government. We feel what the government of
Malaysia is willing to do is quite enough," he said.

Susilo, who chose Malaysia to begin a traditional round of
visits by new leaders to fellow members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said the discussions were held
"in good spirit".

Clearing up the bad blood was crucial for Malaysian companies
hoping to participate in the lucrative reconstruction of Aceh
following the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami. Malaysian
architects and town planners are drawing up a master plan to
rebuild Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province.

Susilo welcomed Malaysia's help in rebuilding Banda Aceh, and
said the master plan would be ready by the end of march.

"We will submit it to Malaysia to identify the exact form of
cooperation for the reconstruction of Aceh," he was quoted by AFP
as saying, without elaborating.

Susilo is scheduled to visit Singapore on Tuesday and
Wednesday.