KL asks RI for help to send home illegals

KL asks RI for help to send home illegals

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia yesterday urged Indonesia to send navy ships to take home about 17,000 of its nationals who entered the country illegally, saying Jakarta shared the burden of repatriating them home.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pressed Malaysia's views in a meeting yesterday with Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia, Muhammad Jacob Dasto.

"There must be cooperation between both parties in efforts to deport the Indonesians who have come in illegally," Abdullah told reporters, adding: "This means it is not wholly Malaysia's responsibility."

Malaysia has been grappling with a surge in Indonesians sneaking into the country by speedboats, with a total of 17,576 caught so far, although authorities concede that many more may have slipped in undetected.

Abdullah said Malaysia wants to send the illegals back home as soon as possible and suggested Jakarta dispatch navy vessels to ferry them home.

Indonesia last year sent a vessel to Kuala Lumpur to take home about 1,000 illegals.

Most of Malaysia's almost two million legal and illegal migrant workers are Indonesians, with the rest mainly from Bangladesh, Thailand and the Philippines.