'No migrant workers in Nunukan'

'No migrant workers in Nunukan'

SAMARINDA: Administration officials in Nunukan denied the
presence of around 30,000 migrant workers in the regency, saying
that it was just a rumor aimed at creating public unrest.

The head of the migrant workers repatriation team, Kasmir
Foret, said that Nunukan was normal and that nothing
extraordinary had happened in the city.

Kasmir, however, admitted that there were indeed a number of
returning migrant workers from Malaysia. But he was quick to
remark that the workers only visited the city to renew their
immigration documents.

Last year, around 65,000 migrant workers who were deported by
the Malaysian government flooded the small city in the
northernmost tip of East Kalimantan province.

More than 50 workers died of hunger and disease in temporary
camps in the town. --JP