Police today detained about 50 migrant workers, mostly Indonesians, following a fight at a construction site in Kulim, Kedah in which six people were injured.

A Bernama report said some 15 to 20 people were involved in the brawl this morning near a workers house.

Following the incident, police rounded up 20 Indonesians, including a woman, 17 Thais, 11 Burmese and one Bangladeshi. Also detained was a Malaysian believed to be the workers supervisor.

Of the six Indonesians injured in the skirmish, four were warded at the Kulim hospital while two received outpatient treatment.

Kulim district police chief Mohamed Salleh Mat Rasid was quoted as saying that the case had been classified as rioting.

Police obtained a seven-day remand order for 19 of the workers detained while 20 others were sent to a detention camp in the state for not possessing valid travel documents.

Last choice

Todays fight is the latest in a string of violent incidents involving Indonesian workers since last December.

Last month, hundreds of Indonesian workers overturned police vehicles and hurled stones at police personnel during an anti-narcotics raid at a textile factory in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

Three days later on Jan 20, some 70 Indonesians armed with machetes went on a rampage and destroyed food stalls belonging to other migrant workers in Cyberjaya.

These violent episodes incurred Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamads wrath and the premier said Indonesian workers should be considered as a last choice and urged companies to employ other nationals.

However, a Jakarta-based lobby group has claimed that the Malaysian polices high-handed actions had forced the workers to react violently.

This claim was later dismissed by the government.