Malaysian marine police detain 43 Indonesians for illegal entry

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian marine police have detained 43 Indonesians for attempting to enter the country illegally by boat in the eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, an official news report said Tuesday.

Police detained the immigrants early Tuesday during river patrols, said district marine police chief Husaini Zainal Abidin.

"A check on a boat found that the passengers comprising 14 men, 13 women and eight children had no travel documents," Husaini was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

He said eight others who did have travel documents were also detained for further questioning.

The 21-year-old boat captain and his two assistants, all believed to be Malaysian, were also detained.

Husaini said initial investigations found that the Indonesians had paid up to 200 ringgit (61 dollars) each, not including fees to illegal agents, to enter the state.

He said most illegal immigrants from Indonesia would enter the country via the state's vast network of rivers, adding that the illegal migrants handed over to the immigration department where they will face deportation.

Malaysia's Sabah and its neighboring Sarawak state have large immigrant populations, including hundreds of thousands of illegal workers who come mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines. dpa jy tl