Southeast Asia steps up blitz on de

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Southeast Asia steps up blitz on desperate illegal 
03:22 a.m. Mar 27, 1998 Eastern 
By Jacqueline Wong 

SINGAPORE, March 27 (Reuters) - They live on tapioca, shoot squirrels with
catapults and roast dogs for food. They hide in makeshift forest huts and in
sewer pipes awaiting installation. 

They are watched over by syndicates which have taken huge sums of money to
help them find work. They come from all over -- Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma),
Sri Lanka, China, India, Thailand, Nepal and Indonesia. 

They are illegal immigrants in crisis-hit Southeast Asia and they are the
targets of governments determined to send them home. 

Some 20 or 30 workers are often jammed into small city flats and other
hideaways in torrid conditions. 

But for illegal immigrants looking for work in Singapore, Malaysia and
Thailand, lifestyle choice is not an issue they grapple with. 

Even as authorities send them back -- fearing an explosion of illegal
immigration, especially from Indonesia, as the crisis cuts deep -- they are
willing to risk their own lives to reach greener pastures elsewhere. 

On Thursday, eight Indonesian illegal immigrants and a policeman were killed
in clashes at a detention camp in Malaysia during a forced repatriation. 

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday Kuala Lumpur would continue
to send illegal immigrants home despite clashes which followed a blitz on
illegals by Malaysia and Singapore. 

They have intercepted boat loads of illegals and, police admit privately, an
unknown number may have drowned in the crossing on primitive vessels. 

Despite these hazards, illegal workers continue to try to bust through the
barriers, taking risk and humiliation in their stride. 

The Indonesians, enduring a nine-month economic crisis, food shortages and
rampant inflation, could be forced to leave en masse, neighbouring
governments fear. 

``Singapore's problem is political. How do you keep the main sea lanes
open?'' said Bruce Gale of the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy,
referring to the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. 

He said handling of illegal immigrants from a human rights standpoint would
be sensitive. ``The publicity of Singapore caning poor illegal immigrants
who are starving anyway, is not going to go down well.'' 

Singapore, only 45 minutes from Indonesia by ferry, fears a tide of economic
refugees descending upon its doorstep. 

The blitz on illegal workers and the threat of imprisonment and caning was
stepped up recently to act as a deterrent. 

Illegal male immigrants face the maximum punishment of six months' jail and
six strokes of the cane. 

Across the border in Malaysia, police said nearly 1,500 Indonesians were
deported by boat. Many were from Aceh in north Sumatra. 

Indonesian officials, however, said the migrants were being held on ships
moored in Malaysian waters. 

``It is going to create political problems for Malaysia and Singapore in the
way they deal with it,'' Gale said. 

The tough stands being taken by the two governments could deter illegals
from coming, but the tide is unlikely to turn soon. 

``You can hardly avoid having some sort of sympathy for people unable to
work, or unable to feed their children,'' said Harold Crouch of the
Australian National University. 

He said it was a replay of the Vietnam refugee problem in the 1970s, when
laden boats were pushed back out to sea. 

Crouch said the difference was that, unlike Vietnamese fleeing abroad
permanently, Indonesians were looking for temporary relief from economic
hardship. 

He said that an exodus of migrants was almost a certainty, but he questioned
how the problem was being treated. 

``If people are fleeing from an intolerable situation, you don't just turn
them back,'' he said. ``If you want to feed your children, should you be
caned for that?'' ^REUTERS@ 

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.