Close to a million undocumented workers are involved. A 500,000-strong civil volunteer corps is mobilised to track and expel illegal immigrants.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Malaysia postponed today sine die the voluntary repatriation of almost one million illegal foreign workers currently in the country.

The announcement was made by the country's Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid who said the decision was taken after Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a formal request to delay the operation.

Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had made a similar request in favour of the 100-500,000 Filipino workers who are said to be illegally living in Malaysia.

"It may appear to most Malaysians that we have backtracked but we must put ourselves in Indonesia's shoes," Mr Azmi told a news conference.

"Imagine if our country was struck by a huge disaster and within a month our fellow citizens were treated badly in another country, how would we feel?" he said referring to the impact of the recent deadly tsunami on Indonesia.

Most illegal immigrants in Malaysia are from Indonesia, 40,000 from hardest-hit province of Aceh.

The country's population of 24 million includes 1.3 million registered foreign workers, according to the Ministry of Manpower and Human Resources.

Various government estimates put the number of illegals at between 1.2 million and 2 million, mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines, but also from Myanmar, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

Their presence goes back to the administration of former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad (1981-2003) and its policies of rapid industrialisation which drew workers from neighbouring countries to man the expanding economy that made Malaysia one of the most prosperous countries of South-East Asia.

Currently, Prime Minister Badawi is having to manage the effects of delocalisation of industry (towards China) and is focusing government efforts in agriculture and fishing. The presence of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers is no longer need and is seen as detrimental by Malaysian authorities.

Public opinion polls indicate that Malaysians also believe that illegal workers are responsible for the rise in crime even though there are no solid data on the issue.

Mass expulsion is not new to Malaysia. In 1998, 480,000 illegal workers were deported, and in 2002, another 760,000 were repatriated.

In September 2004, the government offered an amnesty to foreign workers who left before October 30. The deadline was later extended to January 31, 2005, because of the tsunami.

In the last four months 400,000 illegal immigrants have left Malaysia.

Human rights groups have however protested against the planned crackdown by the corps of 500,000 armed and trained volunteers called Rela—each paid US$ 165 per illegal immigrant arrested—since under the law they do not have the right to arrest. (LF)

 

 

• malaysia
• indonesia
• philippines
• india
• myanmar
• sri
• lanka
• bangladesh
• undocumented
• workers
• illegal
• immigrants
• immigration
• migrants
• poverty
• tsunami
• expulsion
• deportation