Indonesia wants voluntary deportation programme to be extended

Indonesian Deputy Chief of Mission to Malaysia, Hermono said the programme, which began in January, had received very good response as many illegal immigrants had surrendered themselves to be deported with a compound of RM300 and RM100 for a special pass.

"So far, 80,444 Indonesian illegal immigrants had made full use of the programme to return home," he told reporters here Thursday after witnessing the deportation of Indonesian immigrants using special flights at the KL International Airport 2 (klia2).

Hermono said the Indonesian government was planning to reduce the number of undocumented Indonesian workers worldwide and it was estimated that 20,000 to 50,000 undocumented Indonesian workers across the globe would be deported by year's end.

Meanwhile, Immigration Department Enforcement Division deputy director M. Saravana Kumar said they were still waiting for the Attorney-General's decision on the call to extend the programme.

"Right now, no approval was given. So, our advice is for all illegal immigrants to make use of the remaining period, that is before Dec 31, to volunteer to return to their country of origin as soon as possible," he said.

A total of 1,500 Indonesian citizens were deported today using five special flights, namely two from klia2, two from Bayan Lepas airport in Penang, and one from Senai Airport in Johor.

Saravana Kumar said this was made possible with the cooperation from the Indonesian Embassy and with the deportation cost fully borne by the Indonesian government.

He said those who were deported under the programme would be blacklisted from entering Malaysia for a period of between one and five years depending on their offences.