RI workers' settlement destroyed

RI workers' settlement destroyed

KUALA LUMPUR: Police raided an illegal squatter camp complete with cable TV and a volleyball court in a jungle area near Kuala Lumpur, tearing down scores of homes and arresting 167 Indonesian workers, police said Wednesday.

Malaysian human rights group Suaram "strongly condemned" the raid and said many of those arrested were believed to be from the war-shattered Indonesian province of Aceh.

About 200 policemen backed by bulldozers launched the pre-dawn swoop on the settlement about 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of here, a police official told AP on condition of anonymity.

The Indonesians rounded up in Tuesday's raid did not have valid work permits and would be deported, the official said. He declined to say if those arrested were from Aceh, saying "the operation is not targeted at those from Aceh but against illegal migrants."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has urged Malaysia to halt a crackdown against Acehnese people seeking asylum from the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur. -- AP