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.