MORE than 2,000 Indonesians who are in Malaysia illegally will be deported next month, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said Immigration and Foreign Ministry officers met Indonesian embassy officials on May 28 to coordinate the repatriation.

Ismail Sabri said the first batch of 450 Indonesian illegal migrant workers will be sent back in three flights to Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya on June 6, and a second set of flights will deport another 445 on June 10.

He said another 1,294 Indoensians will be sent back to Medan on June 22 by ship.

Ismail Sabri said the Immigration Department is also in discussions with the embassies of Nepal and Bangladesh to send back 246 Nepalese and 2,476 Bangladeshis.

He said the Cambodian embassy will help send back 67 of its citizens.

Ismail Sabri had said only those who tested negative in Immigration detention centres will be deported. 

Putrajaya is cracking down on illegal foreign workers after a raft of Covid-19 cases  was detected among them.

Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said from May 4 till yesterday, 78% of cases in Malaysia came from foreign workers who struggled to avoid infection due to their living conditions.

He advised employers to screen their foreign workers, citing the example of a cleaning service owner who sent all his employees for testing and 23 came back positive.  – May 30, 2020.