Illegal immigrants face investigation

JAMBI, Jambi: The provincial justice office has started investigating 300 residents of Indian and Arab descent who have allegedly yet to obtain Indonesian nationality, despite having stayed here for decades, Antara reported.

The news agency quoted the head of the justice office, Woerjanto, as saying here on Friday that the immigration office believed there were 300 illegal immigrants of Arab and Indian origin.

Many of them have married local people and have children and identifications cards. Some even hold important positions in the local bureaucracy.

"We should do something about their status as illegal immigrants," Woerjanto said, adding that one of the reasons why their illegal status had been ignored for so long by the government was because they had adjusted well to Indonesian culture.

However, "they could be deported," he added.