KL steps up patrols to check immigrant influx

KL steps up patrols to check immigrant influx

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia will step up patrols of its coastal waters and alert villagers to act as "eyes and ears" to prevent an expected influx of Indonesians slipping into the country to seek work, news reports said Saturday.

Authorities said the increased patrols were necessary because Indonesia's economic problems, where millions have been laid off, may force Indonesians to illegally enter Malaysia where wages are higher and jobs still plentiful.

"Until now, there has been no increase in arrivals and we hope the situation will remain so," Deputy Home Minister Tajol Rosli Ghazali was quoted as saying by the Star daily newspaper.

Singapore recently also said it was beefing up surveillance of its waters to keep out illegal Indonesian workers. Indonesians can easily sneak into peninsula Malaysia by speedboat from Indonesia's Sumatra island across the narrow Straits of Malacca.

Indonesians account for half of Malaysia's 1.5 million legal foreign workers, but officials estimate illegals to number almost twice the amount.

Southern Johore state has also directed villagers to act as "eyes and ears" of the government to tip off police if they suspect illegals are staying in their villages, or if locals are harboring them, Muar district council chairman Johari Suratman said.

"Illegal immigrant landings in Muar, particularly by those living in the islands around Sumatra, normally increase sharply after Hari Raya," he said, referring to last month's Moslem Idul Fitri festival.

Johari also said sea patrols will watch out for smuggling of goods, the New Straits Times reported. Malaysia keeps price controls on certain essentials like sugar, chicken and rice, and authorities are worried of smuggling into Indonesia and Thailand, where prices of these items have risen sharply.