The government has extended for an indefinite period a two-month amnesty for an estimated 600,000 illegal immigrants, reports said today.

The amnesty was to have expired midnight Thursday but would now remain until amendments to the Immigration Act imposing heavier penalties on illegals, including whipping, were in place, the New Straits Times said.

Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin was quoted as saying it might take up to six months for the amendments to go into force.

"Although the amnesty period will be extended, I advise all illegal immigrants to leave soon because when we have gazetted the new law, the punishmnent will be severe. There will be no reprieve," he said.

The Star quoted Deputy Premier and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as saying: "When we feel that adequate time has been given, we will announce the final date for the amnesty period to end."

Under the new law, anyone found guilty of illegal entry and harbouring of illegal immigrants would face a mandatory six months in jail and/or up to six strokes of the cane.

Currently, offenders face up to five years' jail or a fine of not more than RM10,000 but courts mostly imposed fines.

The Star daily said only about 55,300 illegal immigrants, mainly Indonesians, had responded to the voluntary repatriation program since March. Malaysia granted a similar amnesty in 1998.

Two riots

It said the offer was made on humanitarian grounds and to speed up repatriation of illegal immigrants.

Under the program, illegal immigrants will need to get a valid travel document from their respective embassies to leave the country unconditionally.

Malaysia is home to some 750,000 legal foreign workers and hundreds of thousands of mainly-Indonesian illegal immigrants.

The government, which has said it aims to deport about 10,000 Indonesian illegal immigrants every month, in January launched an offensive against the migrants with almost daily arrests.

Malaysia's increasing intolerance of illegal immigrants was also turned against legal workers from Indonesia after two riots in January by textile and construction workers.

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