Predawn raids mark crackdown on illegals

Predawn raids mark crackdown on illegals

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur/Nunukan

Malaysian police raided workplaces in darkness early on Tuesday
in a nationwide crackdown on illegal workers, arresting at least
130 people, including 62 known to be Indonesians, shortly after a
four-month-old amnesty ended at midnight.

In one of the earliest raids, about 450 government volunteers
and immigration officials, some armed with pistols and others
with night sticks, cordoned off a construction site in Ceras,
south of Kuala Lumpur, and detained 243 foreigners, including 62
Indonesians.

Some of the illegal immigrants fled into surrounding forests
under cover of darkness in an attempt to escape the dragnet but
later surrendered to the officials.

Sixty-two Indonesians, including 27 from tsunami-hit Aceh
province, were being held at Semenyih detention center south of
Kuala Lumpur, Mohamad Amirudin Mohamad Yusof, director of the
300,000-strong civilian security force who led the raid, said.

"It has been a successful operation. No one was injured. We
will conduct more raids," he said as quoted by AP.

One worker at the construction site, 35-year-old Amin, was
nabbed after a futile bid to outrun his captors. He said he was
forced to skip the amnesty offer because "I have no money and
there is no future for me in Indonesia."

In East Kalimantan, some 200 of 2,000 illegal immigrants who
fled raids to Indonesia were stranded on Tuesday in the border
town of Nunukan.

"We were worried about being arrested and caned by Malaysian
authorities. So, we ran away from our workplace after our
employers refused to arrange the renewal of our immigration
documents," said Ilham, one of the stranded migrants who worked
for a plantation firm in Sabah, Malaysia.

Most of the stranded workers were from West Nusa Tenggara and
South Sulawesi provinces.

Ilham said he and other workers did not know the name of the
plantation company that employed them in Sabah.

"Since we worked there three years ago, we haven't seen any
documents, including immigration papers, arranged for them," he
added.

Malaysia offered illegal workers a chance to return home
without facing any penalties in an amnesty that started in
October and expired on Monday. Some 400,000 illegal workers
departed, but Malaysian officials say about half a million
remain.

Foreign workers from Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh and
India form the backbone of Malaysia's menial workforce,
sustaining the construction industry and plantations. They also
work in restaurants and do other low-paid jobs that Malaysians
won't do. Besides illegal workers, some 1 million other
foreigners are working here legally.

Human rights groups have expressed concern about the massive
crackdown, which they say is open to abuse.

"There is a high potential for human abuses to occur
considering the magnitude of the operation," National Human
Rights Society secretary general Elizabeth Wong was quoted by AFP
as saying on Monday.

Amnesty International earlier this month urged Malaysia to
halt the planned deportation of illegals amid fears some could
face execution or torture in their home countries.

Malaysians blame rising urban crime on foreign workers,
especially the illegal ones who are often dumped without notice
by their employers.

Mahadi Arshad, director-general of a government volunteer
agency deployed in the crackdown, said about 300,000 officials
are involved in the operation, including those tasked with
collecting information on the whereabouts of the illegal
migrants.

"We are targeting all sectors -- construction sites,
plantations and restaurants," Mahadi said.

Thousands of Indonesians voluntarily surrender themselves for
deportation each year ahead of the Muslim holiday of Idul Fitri.
Given a free passage home, they enjoy a break with their families
before sneaking back across the border to resume work.