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.