INDONESIA-BOUND 60 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RESCUED FROM SINKING BOAT

PORT KLANG (Malaysia), Sept 18 (Bernama) -- Marine police Friday rescued and
then arrested 60 illegal immigrants returning to Indonesia to celebrate
Aidilfitri after their overcrowded boat almost sank in waters off Pulau Ketam
here.

The incident happened at about 6.50am after the 35 men, 17 women and eight
children, had boarded the boat bound for Dumai, Sumatra, after having waited for
days in mangrove jungle, said Port Klang Marine Operations Force acting
commanding officer ASP Nordin Osman.

He said four of his officers who were on crime-prevention patrol came across
the unnumbered boat packed with people and taking on water.

"We found that the boat was almost sinking, and immediately rescued everyone
on board. We also found that none of them had valid travel documents," he told a
news conference at the Port Klang Marine Operations Force base, here.

Nordin said they were detained for having entered and stayed in the country
without a valid pass or permit.


The skipper of the boat and two crewmen, aged between 35 and 45, were also
rescued and arrested for harbouring illegal immigrants, he added.

"We believe this is the work of a syndicate which ferries illegal immigrants
out of the country. We learnt that all the immigrants had paid about RM700 each
as the fare and had gathered for days in the mangrove jungle waiting for the
boat, which can only accommodate 15 passengers," he said.

Nordin said the Indonesian embassy had contacted them to send back all the
illegal immigrants.

One of the immigrants, Sisila Kardiman, 25, who was carrying her month-old
son, Mohamad Firdaus, said the skipper had broken his promise to send them back
to Indonesia in a ferry.

"The skipper said no more ferries were available and we had to take the
boat. At about 6am, the engine of the boat stalled. It was raining then, the
wind was strong and the sea was rough.

"When water started to seep into the boat, we panicked. Some of us started
to cry. Praise be to God, we were rescued rather than drown," she said.

Her husband, Shahril Masud, 31, said they were going back to celebrate
Aidilfitri for the first time in the three years he had been working in
Malaysia.

Another immigrant, Atik Karim, 41, said she was thankful to have been
rescued.

"I regret having taken the boat. It was better to have been arrested than to
have drowned. If I ever come to Malaysia again, I will do so legally," said the
mother of four children aged between 11 and 22 years.

-- BERNAMA