KL to start whipping illegals soon

KL to start whipping illegals soon

PHILIPPINES: Malaysia warned on Tuesday it would begin whipping illegal immigrants in about three months following amendments to the country's immigration laws.

Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines Taufik Mohamed Noor stressed that Filipinos who comprise a big number of the illegals were not being singled out, and that Kuala Lumpur was not the first country in Southeast Asia to mete out corporal punishment.

The problem has become "so serious" that parliament passed amendments to the Immigration Act of 1963 to make whipping mandatory for illegal immigrants and those who brought and harbored them, Taufik told a media forum here.

"For the first offense it will be three lashes of the cane. The second offense will be six times."

Taufik said Malaysia expected human rights groups to raise a howl, but said the government was "ready" for it.

Taufik said there are now "more than a million" illegal immigrants in Malaysia, including 400,000 Filipinos mainly in Sabah state on Borneo island. -- AFP