Thousands of desperate illegal immigrants flooded various ports in the country Wednesday in a panicked rush to return home ahead of a midnight amnesty deadline after which they face jail and whipping.

A mass of mostly Indonesian migrants camped out at the jetty in Stulang Laut port in southern Johor, sleeping and eating amid piles of rotting rubbish left by more than 30,000 others who headed home before them.

"I don't want to leave, which is why I only came here today, but I am afraid of what will happen to me when the amnesty ends," said Siti Ghafar, from Java.

Like many of her fellow illegal immigrants, Siti arrived in Malaysia on a three-month holiday visa and simply disappeared from official view, working for five years at a restaurant in the northern Penang state.

After camping overnight at the jetty, Siti, 42, managed to buy tickets home for herself, three sisters and an 18-year old brother.

Across the South China Sea in Sabah, it is mainly Filipinos who are crowding the jetties in Sandakan port seeking tickets home.

Among them is Jung Alcantara, who has worked as an electrical technician in Sabah for 15 years. He and his wife Teresita Lawas are headed for Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.

"I have been in Sabah for more than half of my adult life and I find it so difficult to simply say goodbye to my second home," the 43-year-old said.

"It is not easy having to leave a place where we have learned to love the people and adopt the local culture and traditions".

Jobs aplenty

Tired of playing a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities, who deported some 10,000 Filipinos from Sabah in the first three months of this year, Jung was reconciled to going home but hoped to return to Sabah some day.

"Life in Sabah is totally different from my hometown because it easy to find a job here provided you are a skilled worker, and the place is so peaceful," he said.

The desire to somehow make their way back to Malaysia is also strong among the Indonesians camped at Stulang Laut.

Mukiano, a 37-year-old father of two who has worked for two-years at a vegetable plantation, said he planned to return as soon as possible.

"My employer said he will pay for all the valid documents so I can come back and work here, but even if he does not, I know I will not stay for long in Indonesia," he told AFP .

"There is so much more work for us in Malaysia, and life is hard in Indonesia, but at this time I just want to leave the country before the amnesty ends."

His fears of Malaysia's harsh new immigrations laws, which will take effect on Thursday, are shared by more than 260,000 illegal workers who have responded to the amnesty programme which began March 21.

Under the new laws, the migrants and their employers face a mandatory six months in jail and possibly up to six strokes of the cane.

One-month reprieve

Abdul Razak Ejab, the jetty manager in Stulang Laut, said more than 10,000 illegal workers had already been sent home from the site.

"We are expecting that many more will come towards the later part of the day, and many of them will not be able to make it before midnight," he said.

Recognising the problem, the government Tuesday announced a one-month reprieve for illegal immigrants who can prove they are willing to leave the country but couldn't find a seat or get travel documents in time.

Riot police are standing by at the jetties and an officer stationed in Stulang Laut told AFP that reinforcements would be called in later in the day as the numbers of desperate immigrants was expected to grow.

Malaysia, which was home to an estimated 600,000 illegal immigrants, blames them for contributing to a growth in crime and other social problems. But employers, particularly in the construction industry, have warned that the crackdown could cause crippling project delays. AFP