Aceh Illegals to be Spared Detention

New Straits Times
Wednesday, March 2, 2005

PUTRAJAYA, Illegal immigrants from Aceh will be spared detention on humanitarian grounds under Ops Tegas. Home Affairs Minister Datuk Azmi Khalid said today the Government was sympathetic to the plight of Achenese, who had little to go back to after the Dec 26 tsunami which devastated the province.

He said enforcement officers carrying out raids had been told to release Achenese found without travel documents.

"We are very sympathetic to their cause and will not send them back. We know the extent of damage that the tsunami caused in the province," he said.

He said asylum-seekers with letters from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would also be spared.

"They have to prove that they are Acehnese. Otherwise, they will have to face legal action and deportation.

"We have ways of checking whether they are from Aceh or not," Azmi said at a Press conference.

Indonesian Tita Adeh (left) all smiles as an Immigration officer returns her passport with a one-month extension pending the approval of her work permit in Sarawak.

He said the Government understood that they could not go home due to political pressure.

"As we cannot allow them to be beggars in our country, they will be absorbed into our foreign labour force."

Azmi also alleged that the UNHCR had indiscriminately issued letters to Acehnese asylum-seekers.

"We will work with UNHCR on this. The Government has ways to control the number of asylum-seekers in the country."

He was commenting on claims that the UNHCR had issued about 10,000 letters to foreigners before the amnesty programme for illegal immigrants started.

"All these UNHCR letters cannot be accepted as bona fide. There is information that some are not genuine."

On new foreign workers, Azmi reiterated that the Government had frozen their recruitment as it had promised illegal immigrants working here that they could return to jobs once they had been legalised.

"If the numbers coming in are too low, we may have to open up to new foreign workers."

Azmi said illegal workers returning with legal status could register with the Construction Registration Board. Azmi also hit out at Suaram, which had claimed that over 200 Bangladeshis were arrested during Ops Tegas.

"I do not know where it got this figure from, but our records show only eight Bangladeshis were detained.

"Non-governmental organisations like Suaram must be able to substantiate their claims. This is a serious allegation and they must be warned of the consequences."

On the 49 Indonesian illegals arrested at Port Klang after midnight on March 1, Azmi said they had been allowed to go home.

"They bought their tickets before March 1, but were stranded at Port Klang because the ferry operator demanded an additional fare which t! hey could not afford.

"As long as they have tickets booked before March 1, the cut-off date of departure and the deadline do not matter. We are humane and we will use our discretion in solving problems like this."

About 400,000 illegal immigrants have returned home under the amnesty programme, with about 400,000 still in Malaysia.

Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said the number of illegals detained under the operation was expected to increase.

"It was a slow start yesterday, but the pace will pick up in days to come," he said.

As of 4pm today, only 17 of the 334 Indonesian illegals checked nationwide had been detained.

Yesterday, 563 of the 5,521 checked were detained.

Ishak said those without valid documents were sent to detention camps.

"The officers will hand over the cases to the deputy public prosecutor," he said.

The 17 Indonesians illegals caught today were in Johor, Malacca and Sarawak.