W. Kalimantan Police foil illegal sending of Malaysia-bound workers

The West Kalimantan Police have foiled an attempt to send 45 allegedly illegal migrant workers to Sarawak, East Malaysia.

“There are 45 Indonesian workers whom we believe are illegal in custody at the West Kalimantan Police headquarters,” West Kalimantan Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Mukson Munandar said Thursday in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said the 45 workers were about to be sent overland to Sarawak via the Entikong border crossing checkpoint in Sanggau, West Kalimantan.

“The West Kalimantan Police managed to foil the attempt at 6 p.m. on Tuesday when [the workers] were being transported in five vehicles … on Jl. Raya Sungai Ambawang,” Mukson said.

He said the five drivers were being investigated.

West Kalimantan Manpower and Transmigration Agency head Jakuri Suni said the province had long been used by illegal migrant workers to cross the border into Sarawak in Malaysia.

The illegal migrant workers, he said, came from 23 provinces, predominantly from West Java, East Java, Banten, Jakarta, Central Java, Maluku and West Nusa Tenggara.

“Many migrant workers misuse their tourist visas to work and stay in Malaysia,” he said. (mtq)