Malaysia to press on with crackdown on migrants

Home Minister Azmi Khalid told AFP there would be no change in plans to deploy more than half a million Malaysian members of volunteer neighbourhood security groups to track down and detain the illegal migrants.

The move was described as "ominous" by Human Rights Watch, which said in a statement last week the volunteers would receive minimal training and would get cash rewards for each migrant arrested.

Azmi defended the plan, saying those heading the civilian groups were skilled and experienced as they were former military and police officials.

"Have no fear," Azmi said. "We are a civilised society. We do not beat the illegals."

There are an estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants in Malaysia, mainly from neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines but also from India and Bangladesh, who are drawn by jobs in construction, plantation work and services.

Malaysia has said it will move against the illegal migrants at the end of an amnesty which began on October 29. The amnesty was originally designed to last 17 days, but has been extended until an unspecified date next month at the request of the Indonesian government.

Azmi said only about 111,000 illegal migrants had left the country since the amnesty began and he did not foresee a major exodus before it expired despite tough punishment including jail terms and a whipping for those who overstay.

Many illegal immigrants risk staying in relatively-prosperous Malaysia because they face unemployment and poverty in their own countries. "Life back home is difficult," an Indonesian car-wash worker told AFP. "They cannot find a job and they have paid a lot of money to come here."