Jakarta – Health and emergency workers in an Indonesian border town said yesterday they were struggling to ensure thousands of Indonesians fleeing an immigration crackdown in Malaysia had access to clean water and adequate sanitation.
The warning came amid reports that up to 80,000 more undocumented workers may soon arrive in the town of Nunukan in East Kalimantan province from the neighbouring Malaysian state of Sabah.
At least 27 people have died in the town, where makeshift camps and government buildings are accommodating about 23,000 Indonesians who fled Malaysia in response to a recent get-tough campaign against illegal immigration.
Based on data collated by the group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and obtained by Reuters, nearly 50 refugees there and elsewhere had died in the past month from a range of illnesses, including diarrhoea.
The victims included at least a dozen babies and a similar number of older children.
"This is a national disaster. There is even one camp near a garbage dump where illegal workers are sleeping with maggots," said Ms Ade Rostina, coordinator for the group of NGOs, adding she feared the death toll would rise.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said yesterday the government would try hard to solve the problems of illegal Indonesian workers deported from Malaysia.
"I have discussed the problem of the workers with the Malaysian government since January as the problem has something to do with human rights," he said.
The government has already made every effort to accommodate the deported Indonesian workers but since the numbers arriving in Nunukan were too large, "their condition is getting worse", he said.
Since August 1, Malaysia has been enforcing new laws which impose caning, imprisonment and large fines on illegal foreign workers. More than 300,000 immigrants, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, have fled Malaysia in recent months to escape the new penalties. The issue is straining ties between the three countries.
Nunukan's one health clinic had seen a 100 per cent jump in admissions since the beginning of the month, said nurse Jalehia. The town was desperately short of doctors to treat the sick, most of whom were suffering from diarrhoea and respiratory problems, she said. "The question is how long can we last like this?" Ms Jalehia told The Associated Press by telephone from Nunukan.
Mr Hotaman, an official at a the town's emergency centre, said sanitation supplies at the camps were running low and tankers were also needed to transport fresh water.
He added that the Indonesian Consulate in the nearby Malaysian town of Tawau in Sabah reported that about 80,000 workers were waiting to return to Indonesia via Nunukan. It was unclear when they would depart.
Most of the refugees in Nunukan are hoping to return to Malaysia, but must first obtain fresh passports and documents from the immigration office in the town.
Officials estimated up to 600,000 illegal workers were in Malaysia – a relatively wealthy South-east Asian country which attracts migrants from poorer neighbouring countries – before the laws were introduced.
Malaysia still employs hundreds of thousands of legal foreign labourers, mostly on plantations and construction sites.