Malaysia says illegal immigrants pose threat
Malaysia says illegal immigrants pose threat
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Illegal immigrants in Malaysia pose a social and possibly political threat to the country, Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday.
Malaysian authorities estimate that 800,000 of two million foreign workers in the country are illegal, mostly Indonesians.
"If they come here with the hope there is a job for them, yet they find there is no work for them, that's dangerous to have too many people unemployed," said Abdullah after opening a Southeast Asian forum meeting in the Malaysian capital.
"It can cause instability in Malaysia. It will affect us socially and perhaps, I don't know, even politically," he said.
"We must make sure there are jobs available for Malaysians. Charity must begin at home." Abdullah did not elaborate further.
Malaysia's Gross Domestic Product growth is expected to slow sharply in 1998. A Reuters poll on Friday showed that economists estimate the economy to grow by 2.2 percent this year against the government's current forecast of between four and five percent. Growth in 1997 is estimated to have been around seven percent.
Abdullah said on Friday that Malaysia wants Jakarta to help it deport Indonesian illegal immigrants, possibly with the aid of Indonesian naval ships.
Nasarudin Koro, deputy chief of mission at the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said earlier last week that his country was ready to take back thousands of its citizens who have illegally immigrated to Malaysia, but was reluctant bear the cost because of a financial crisis at home.
Meanwhile, ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that Southeast Asian nations must face economic crisis, the possible return of choking haze and Cambodia's political turmoil together.
"Some in ASEAN seem to pay mere lip service to the ideal of regional solidarity and cooperation," the Association of Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretary-general said.
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