NUSA DUA, Indonesia - The government today defended its crackdown on illegal immigrants from Indonesia and elsewhere, saying they are a burden on the state.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the country has about one million illegal immigrants, or five percent of the population.

"It is a burden on our social, economic and political (systems)," he told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference on people-smuggling on Indonesia's Bali island.

"It can create problems in our own country. So Malaysians are concerned," Syed Hamid added.

"If they come illegally it becomes possible that they may get to criminal elements and they will be exploited, they will be abused. That we would like to prevent."

Syed Hamid said Indonesians were shipped home at Malaysia's expense in cooperation with Jakarta.

Mandatory whipping

Thousands of people have been arrested and hundreds of homes destroyed in an increasingly aggressive crackdown on illegal immigrants in Malaysia.

On the first day of a drive in Sabah, police and troops arrested more than 2,500 people.

Those detained, mostly Filipinos and Indonesians, are being held in camps and will be deported as soon as possible. If they are caught trying to return they face mandatory whipping.

The action in Sabah is in line with a tougher approach throughout Malaysia, which is home to 750,000 legal foreign workers as well as illegals - mainly Indonesians in both categories.

The government has said it aims to deport about 10,000 Indonesian illegals every month and police said 4,531 were arrested in January.

Malaysia is also targeting legal workers from Indonesia after two riots in January by textile and construction workers.

Based on needs

The government announced that Indonesians would be hired in future only as domestic helpers and plantation workers.

Syed Hamid said Malaysia still needs many Indonesians for the two sectors.

"In other sectors we'd like to have a mix from other countries," he said, citing the Philippines, Bangladesh and Nepal, to avoid becoming over-dependent on one source.

"Our policy of taking people will be based on our needs." (AFP)