Navy to repatriate RI's illegal migrant workers in KL

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Navy will once again be called upon to help repatriate more than 17,000 illegal Indonesian migrant workers currently being detained by Malaysian authorities.

"The Indonesian government can understand the Malaysian government's plan to repatriate the Indonesian workers," Indonesia's foreign minister Ali Alatas said here yesterday.

The move will comply with Kuala Lumpur's recent request that the Indonesian government help with the repatriation of the workers.

Malaysian foreign minister Abdullah Badawi recently said 17,576 Indonesians have been detained by police.

Last year, the navy also sent a ship to take several thousand illegal Indonesian immigrants home.

The sudden downturn in the economies of southeast Asia has also effected Malaysia, putting thousands of migrant workers out of work.

"We will work together with Malaysia in dealing with the repatriation," Alatas said.

No details were available as to when the Navy ship would depart, but Alatas said: "We do realize this is an urgent matter."

An Indonesian team is expected to depart for Malaysia soon to make an official tally of the number to be sent back.

Shots

In Kuala Lumpur, Reuters quoted yesterday local newspaper reports saying that Malaysian marine police fired warning shots before detaining 232 immigrants on board two overcrowded Indonesian trawlers.

The incident, which the newspapers said occurred Tuesday night, highlighted the mounting number of desperate Indonesians trying to cross into neighboring Malaysia by boat.

The commander of the police patrol craft, Marzuki Che Shuib, said his vessel intercepted two Indonesian trawlers after nightfall Tuesday about 5.7 nautical miles from the southwestern coast of the Malaysia Peninsular, near Parit Jawa.

Parit Jawa is about 50 kilometers off Sumatra and about 165 kilometers southeast of Kuala Lumpur.

Marzuki was quoted in The New Straits Times and The Star as saying one of the trawlers rammed the police boat before an officer fired three warning shots.

The captains of the trawlers, which were designed to carry a maximum of 40 passengers, then surrendered, The New Straits Times said.

Deputy Home Minister Tajol Rosli Ghazali said Wednesday that between 300 and 400 illegal immigrants were arriving every day, mainly from Indonesia.

He was quoted by the official Bernama news agency as saying the government was forced to deport some 500 immigrants every day to make room in detention camps.

Tajol said Malaysian authorities were forced to use boats belonging to local companies to ship back the immigrants, and that deportation cost 104 ringgit (US$28) per Indonesian.

Director General of the Immigration Department Aseh Che Mat was quoted by Bernama Wednesday as saying that 15,000 Indonesian immigrants had been deported this year.

Malaysian authorities estimate that 800,000 of the two million foreign workers are illegal, most of which are Indonesians. (mds)