Malaysia slams Amien over caning remarks

Malaysia slams Amien over caning remarks

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar rebuked Indonesia's
People's Consultative Assembly chairman Amien Rais on Thursday
for criticizing of Malaysia's labor laws, despite efforts by the
Indonesian government to calm the row.

Syed Hamid said Amien should take responsibility for high
unemployment levels in Indonesia rather than attacking Malaysia
for caning Indonesian illegal immigrants who come to the country
looking for work.

Amien played an instrumental role in pushing for economic and
political reforms in Indonesia and "a lot of people were thrown
out of their jobs, and a lot of companies were closed," the
foreign minister said.

"Rather than giving us a warning or distorting the truth of
what truly happened, he should bear responsibility for what is
happening to his people."

The war of words was sparked off on Sunday when Rais slammed
Malaysia over what he called the "inhuman" and "insulting" caning
of several illegal Indonesian migrant workers under Malaysia's
new immigration laws.

"Frankly, I feel disappointed, angry, and unable to accept the
fact that Malaysia, a modern country which belongs to the same
Malay ethnic group (as Indonesia), has resorted to punishing
Indonesian illegal workers in a way that is really inhuman,"
Amien said.

He further warned Malaysia on Sunday not to play with fire by
caning illegal Indonesian workers in that country.

"I urge the Indonesian government, in a dignified way, to tell
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to stop playing games.
Mahathir is playing with fire," he said.

The implementation of the new laws followed a July 31 expiry
of an amnesty period, which saw the mass exodus of more than
300,000 illegal migrants, and courts have since sentenced dozens
of other workers to jail and caning. Syed Hamid welcomed a
statement by Indonesian Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra on
Wednesday that Rais's criticism was a personal opinion and not
the stand of the Indonesian government.

Malaysia will not soften its crackdown on illegal immigrants
despite a request from the Philippines to allow thousands of its
citizens more time to escape strict new laws, Syed Hamid said on
Thursday.

However Filipinos caught out when an amnesty deadline expired
who were legitimately trying to leave Malaysia would be granted
some leniency, he said.

Syed Hamid held talks on Thursday with visiting Philippines
Foreign Secretary Blas Ople about thousands of illegal Filipino
immigrants on Malaysia's part of Borneo island.

Ople said the Philippines did not object to the new laws, but
asked that Filipinos who were trying to leave Malaysia's Borneo
state of Sabah be given more time, Syed Hamid said.

Syed Hamid said he told Ople that Malaysia would not give
amnesty to Filipinos caught working illegally in Malaysia, but
Filipinos who were trying to leave would be given time to get
their paperwork in order.

"We told him that our actions are based on law and we will not
act unjustly against anyone," Syed Hamid told reporters after
meeting Ople. "It is all done within our sovereignty and
independence rights."

Some 60,000 Filipinos and dependents have returned from
Malaysia so far this year and another 4,000 or so are awaiting
deportation, the Philippines Foreign Affairs Department has said.

About 180,000 Filipinos, including dependents, were estimated
to be in Malaysia's Sabah state illegally.

Many of the immigrants are Muslims who fled to Sabah from
violence and wrenching poverty in the southern Philippines - a
resource-rich region wracked by successive Muslim separatist
rebellions.

Before the crackdown, officials estimated up to 600,000 people
formed a labor black market in Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia's
richest countries, working mostly in low-paying menial jobs.