Indonesians eye KL coasts

Sun, 04 Feb 2001, 00:00 WIB | Source: DPA

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): More than 20,000 Indonesians are believed
to be waiting at various ports facing Johor's coasts for the
right time to enter Malaysia, news reports said Saturday.

Wan Aziz Wan Mahmud, assistant director of Malaysia's
Immigration Department, said that figure was the same as the
number of Indonesians stopped at port check points in their
country as they awaited boats to ferry them illegally to
Malaysia.

Johor, Malaysia's southern most state, is merely a hop, skip
and jump from Indonesia. Its marshy coastline and numerous
fishing villages make perfect landing sites for illegal
immigrants and their smugglers.

Wan Aziz said the influx of illegal immigrants from Indonesia
rose significantly when there was civil and economic unrest there
in 1997 and he expects the same to happen now given the
instability of President Abdurrahmam Wahid's government.

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