KL delays massive deportation of RI illegals

Agencies Jakarta

Malaysia has put on hold until January 2005 the massive deportation of up to 700,000 Indonesians working illegally in the neighboring country.

The move follows warnings from Jakarta earlier this month that a crackdown on Indonesian illegals in Malaysia, before or during the Sept. 20 presidential runoff, could affect the political condition and hurt bilateral ties.

"This decision is not a compromise but suits us well," Malaysia's Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times on Thursday.

Indonesia has sought the delay because of the upcoming second round of the presidential election and major religious events such as the Ramadhan fasting month and Christmas.

Malaysia was working on a biometric system to record the entry and exit of foreigners, which would be ready in five months, Azmi said.

"Without the system, keeping illegal immigrants at bay would be a futile effort," said Azmi.

He warned that "once we start the operation, (illegal immigrants and their employers) will be liable for the harshest punishment."

Under tough laws introduced two years ago, the migrants face fines of up to 10,000 ringgit (US$2,630) per offense, a prison sentence of up to five years, or both, with whipping.

AFP reported that 18,000 illegal immigrants have been whipped in Malaysian prisons in the past two years and another 16,900 are awaiting their turn.

There are an estimated 1.2 million illegal workers in the country, who are mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines and employed in construction, plantation work and services.

Meanwhile, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea welcomed the decision, for giving both governments the opportunity to handle the labor issue more humanely and peacefully.

"We will convey our gratitude to Kuala Lumpur over the delay, as the satisfactory result of intensive lobbying to maintain the two countries' bilateral ties."

"Despite the delay, we will continue lobbying the Malaysian government to legalize the Indonesian illegals because it is better and more efficient than the planned deportation. Besides, the Malaysian authorities should also tighten the recruitment procedure to avoid the presence of more illegals in the future," he said.

Nuwa Wea said that Indonesia would continue to campaign to prevent people from working abroad illegally. "The government, in cooperation with local mass media, will continue to discourage workers from illegal employment overseas, by stressing that it will only bring them suffering," he said.

Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Dato' Hamidon Ali said in Jakarta on Thursday that one of the most perennial bilateral issues was that of illegal workers.

"We have always tried to solve any issue together. Many of those issues were discussed at the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting, for example," he said.

Wahyu Susilo, coordinator of Migrant Care, a non-governmental organization which seeks to improve the welfare of overseas workers, called on Malaysia and the Indonesian government to pay attention to the widespread maltreatment of migrant workers.