Migrants in Malaysia: Stop the illegals first
Migrants in Malaysia: Stop the illegals first
V.K. CHIN, The Star, Asia News Network, Kuala Lumpur
The government will need to put aside more money in its
campaign to deal with the Indonesian workers issue. Areas
requiring such funds urgently are the instant deportation of
illegals and troublemakers and preventing them from sneaking in.
Facilities to enforce this must be put in place as quickly as
possible. In deporting these foreigners, it is necessary to do so
without undue delay and this can only be done if transportation
is available for this purpose.
More boats must be put in service so that those who are caught
can be sent home as has been done in the case of some of those
who participated in the Nilai riots. This is of course a very
costly exercise but boats are required to ferry them across the
Straits of Malacca.
Otherwise, they will have to be held in detention centers
until transport can be arranged to send them home. Holding them
in such camps for any length of time can lead to further trouble.
If they are held there for too long, there is always the
possibility that they will cause riots.
It will still cost money to provide them with three meals a
day and keeping such centers in reasonable condition. Guards will
have to be posted to look after them. Such expenditure can be
saved if they are sent home immediately upon capture.
The Indonesian government has often pledged that it will
provide whatever assistance necessary to ensure that such
operations are conducted smoothly. It will be difficult to
implement such repatriation without Jakarta's support.
It is useless to send them home if there are tens of thousands
of them just waiting to sneak into Malaysia and it is therefore
important that surveillance of the coastal areas be stepped up to
discourage this.
More personnel, whether the army, Rela or other groups, must
be deployed to patrol and watch the spots where such foreigners
can land as they have been doing for years now with the aid of
unscrupulous boat owners.
Though many of those being smuggled in know the risks involved
in coming illegally, they are still prepared to pay for such
trips because Indonesia is facing serious economic difficulties
and they know they can earn a living in Malaysia.
The marine police must be provided with more patrol boats to
intercept and search any vessel from Indonesia coming into
Malaysian territory to stop the inflow of such illegals. But the
enforcement agencies will always have to be on the alert to stamp
out the flow of such undesirable visitors.
Otherwise, it will be a waste of time and resources for the
police and immigration officers to round up these foreigners
while new ones will arrive in equal or larger numbers because the
guarding of the coastlines is not effective.
Due to the crackdown, many of these foreigners will no doubt
be in hiding to avoid arrest and to hold out for as long as
possible. It is up to the public to play their part by informing
the police on the whereabouts of such illegals for action to be
taken against them.