Malaysia deports 17 migrants from S. Sumatra

PALEMBANG: The Malaysian government will deport 139 Indonesian migrant workers this month, 17 of them from South Sumatra.

According to South Sumatra’s provincial legal secretariat bureau chief Ardani, in Palembang on Friday, his office received the data from the Indonesian consulate in Kuching, in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak, on July 4.

“Five of the 17 migrant workers from South Sumatra will be repatriated because they have been accused by Malaysian Police of immigration document violations, while the rest had entered the country illegally,” said Ardani.

Ardani said all of them had completed their sentences at the end of June so the Malaysian government had decided to deport them immediately through the border at Tebedu, Kucing, and Fatikong, West Kalimantan. “However, we have yet to obtain definite information on their identities and are still coordinating with the Foreign Ministry through the Indonesian consulate in Kuching,” he added.

The data also disclosed that, from the total number of 139 migrant workers, the number of South Sumatra residents constitute the second largest group, together with West Java, while the majority of them come from West Kalimantan, with 48 people.