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.