Malaysia canes 387 Indonesians

JAKARTA: The Malaysian government had caned 387 Indonesians for violations of its new immigration policy implemented on August 1.

Foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Friday that a total of 677 illegal Indonesian workers had been sentenced to caning by Malaysian courts.

"The 387 Indonesians were caned in different states of Malaysia, but we do not have the details of how many lashes they received."

Marty said the 387 people had returned home to Indonesia, while the rest remained in detention in Malaysia.

Indonesian representatives there had provided lawyers and the necessary assistance to the workers during the process, he said.

Antara reported that most of the beatings occurred in the state of Johor, where 400 people, mostly Indonesians, were caned in the last couple of months.

Johor Head of State Abdul Ghani Othman said a total of 734 illegal migrant workers had been jailed for illegal entry, with 403 caned since August.

He said currently there were around 8,000 to 10,000 illegal migrants in the state, down from around 97,800 early this year.

Thousands of Indonesians working illegally in Malaysia, where they were exploited as cheap labor, were forced to flee Indonesia's Muslim neighbor prior to the implementation of the controversial new laws. --JP