Malaysia to arrest illegal immigrants

Malaysia to arrest illegal immigrants

MALAYSIA: More than half a million civilian volunteers will be given the power to arrest illegal immigrants next year, local media reported on Friday, despite fears that such a move would encourage vigilantism and undermine the law.

Home Minister Azmi Khalid said that from January onward some 560,000 members of two neighborhood security watch organizations would help police and immigration officials round up illegal foreign workers, the national news agency Bernama reported.

The immigrants, mostly from neighboring Indonesia and other parts of Asia, had ignored an earlier government amnesty offer to leave Malaysia without punishment, Bernama said.

The government has said illegal immigrants detained from the beginning of 2005 risk being whipped with a rattan cane, fined and jailed before being deported.

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch warned that Malaysia's proposed deportation of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants could spark human rights abuses and harm legitimate refugees and victims of human trafficking.

The New York-based group also urged Malaysia to scrap its plan to enlist civilian volunteers for immigration raids because it would encourage vigilantism and undermine the rule of law. --AP