Malaysia deports shipload Indonesian illegal workers

Malaysia deports shipload Indonesian illegal workers

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia deported 303 illegal Indonesian
immigrants yesterday on board a ferry to Dumai, Sumatra, an
Immigration Department spokesman said.

The 162 men, 121 women and 20 children, aged between one and
40 years, were required to pay their own fares of up 60 ringgit
(US$16) for the trip.

The illegals had been rounded up throughout the state of
Malacca recently and were detained at a camp for about two weeks,
he said.

In another development, police in an ongoing operation to
flush out illegal immigrants, detained a total of 267 illegal in
two separate operations, police said.

In a first operation, police seized forged passports and
travel documents and rounded up 115 illegal immigrants in the
central state of Selangor, he said.

Among those detained 90 were Indonesians, 12 Bangladeshis, six
Thais, six Indians and a Taiwanese. All were unable to produce
valid travel documents, police added.

In a similar operation, another 152 illegal immigrants were
rounded up in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, they said. They
comprised 76 Indonesians, 40 Bangladeshis, nine Burmese, seven
Indians, five Iranians and a Pakistani.

Meanwhile, six Thais, including a woman were detained while
attempting to enter Malaysia illegally in a special modified van,
the southern state of Johor Immigration Director Tasmin Othman
said.

The drama of their entry started when the van which arrived
from Singapore sped away at the checkpoint and smashed into the
barricades, he said.

Tasmin said after the incident, immigration officers heard
knocking from inside the vehicle, and found six Thais illegal
immigrants, aged between 21 and 43 years, hiding in a special
compartment in the van's undercarriage that had been modified.

Indonesia had assured Malaysia that it would take whatever
measures necessary to stop the inflow of illegal immigrants,
Malaysian Defense Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

He said the assurance was given by his visiting Indonesian
counterpart Gen. Wiranto. "We would like to see them stopping
their people from coming over rather than us having to face the
problem later," Syed Hamid said.