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Malaysia threatens mass expulsion of illegal immigrants
Associated Press - June 25, 2008
Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia's government announced plans Wednesday to chase out tens of thousands of illegal immigrants, mainly Filipinos and Indonesians, who have become a major political irritant on Borneo island.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said authorities will soon launch a massive operation to flush out foreigners without travel or identification documents from eastern Sabah state, which borders both the Philippines and Indonesia.
"We will deport them to the country that is willing to accept them," Najib was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. He said immigrants who have lived unlawfully in Sabah since the 1970s would not be spared.
His aides could not immediately be reached for further details.
Authorities recently estimated there are some 130,000 illegal immigrants in Sabah. But the state's politicians insist the real figure is several times that, and claim that foreigners outnumber Malaysians in some provinces.
The issue has long been a bitter grievance for Sabah politicians, who accuse the federal government of failing to oust job-seeking foreigners after their permits expire.
Top government leaders have stepped up efforts to resolve the problem amid speculation that many Sabah lawmakers planned to defect to the opposition because of dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration.
Although Sabah has vast natural resources, such as timber, it is one of Malaysia's poorest states. Some residents blame this on large numbers of migrants whose presence means fewer available jobs.
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