Published on: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 |
Kota Kinabalu: About 30,000 Indonesian immigrants in Sabah have taken up the amnesty offer as of Jan. 17, said Indonesian Vice-Consul, Wahyu Riadi.
So far this month about 3,000 have taken up the offer which was first announced on Nov. 29 last year and was to cease at end of December.
However, the deadline was extended to Jan. 31 due to the tsunami, which occurred following an undersea earthquake north-west of Sumatra on Dec. 26 last year.
"It's good to see that many of my countrymen have responded to the amnesty programme offered by the Malaysian Government and at the same time adhered to our government's call," he said, urging more illegal Indonesians to follow suit.
Wahyu also appreciated the cooperation extended by employers to the many Indonesian migrant workers in the State but stressed that if they wished for their workers to return, it should be done legally.
"If the employers want their employees to return and work for them again, let it be done through legitimate channels," he said, when contacted Monday.
Meanwhile, Consul Luis Cruz of the Philippines Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said 80 per cent of the 15,072 Filipinos who have taken up the offer in the country as of Jan. 14 were from Sabah.
Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the decision to extend the amnesty period was taken as Malaysia sympathised with the government and people of Indonesia for having to deal with the catastrophic situation.
