Illegal immigrants given 15 more days

Illegal immigrants given 15 more days

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The government has extended by 15 days the deadline for illegal immigrants to leave Malaysia, a news report said.

A two-month amnesty period that started on Aug. 31 was to have ended on Saturday night.

About 130,000 immigrants returned to their own countries during the period. Of those, 104,000 were Indonesians and the rest mostly from the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Myanmar.

The 15-day extension will be final and there will be no more grace period, Deputy Home Minister Tajol Rosli Ghazali was quoted as saying on Saturday by Bernama news agency. After the new deadline, authorities will take action against illegal immigrants still in Malaysia, Tajol Rosli said.