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.