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.