Malaysia deports 2,500 illegal RI workers

Malaysia deports 2,500 illegal RI workers

Reuters, Pasir Gudang, Malaysia

Malaysia carried out its largest ever deportation of illegal
immigrants on Monday, sending back around 2,500 Indonesian
workers on two Indonesian naval ships under armed escort.

Indonesian marines and Malaysian policemen armed with rifles
and batons stood watch as the workers boarded the Teluk Langsa
and Tanjung Kambani at Pasir Gudang port in southern Johor state.

The repatriation, which was trouble-free, cost Malaysia
425,000 ringgit (US$112,000) and 1,700 Indonesians will be sent
home in a similar exercise next month.

There were smiles and tears as the men, women and children
walked up the gangplank. They were due to reach Surabaya in East
Java on Nov. 24.

Some of the men had worked in oil palm plantations and
construction sites and the women as maids and karaoke hostesses.

"I am happy to go home," said Paharti, a 27-year-old woman
from East Java who worked illegally as a cook.

Some of the men, who declined to be named, alleged they were
beaten while in custody although Indonesian officials played down
such claims.

"These things happened, many were beaten up," said one, who
spent a month in an immigration camp in the northern state of
Perak.

Illegal immigration is a serious issue for Malaysia, which has
a population of 23 million and is a favored destination for
workers from its more populous, poorer neighbors.

Malaysia is home to more than a million foreign workers, most
of them from Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and
the Philippines.

The Malaysian government said it would begin deporting about
300,000 foreign workers from this month to cut down on foreign
labor in certain industries to free up jobs for locals affected
by the economic slowdown.

Government officials said the deportees had overstayed their
permits. Under a new ruling, the government will issue only
three-year work permits, compared with six or seven years
previously.

Under the plan, foreigners working on plantations, in
manufacturing or construction sectors who have been in Malaysia
for three years or more will be given up to three months to
leave.

Immigration Department Director-General Jamal Kamdi told a
news conference that there are now 700,000 legal foreign workers
in Malaysia, of which 80 percent are Indonesian.

He said Malaysia has deported 124,000 illegal workers so far
this year, up from 103,000 for the whole of last year.

"Our target is 150,000 this year," he said.

An Indonesian government minister said Jakarta would step up
efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigrants heading for
Malaysia.

"We will also take stern action against human traffickers,"
Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea,
in Malaysia to witness the deportation, told reporters. He did
not elaborate.

He urged Malaysia to hire more legal workers from Indonesia.

"If it is possible, we can send more workers (legally) to
Malaysia. After all, Indonesia and Malaysia are part of the Malay
archipelago and we are one big family," he said.