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.