The government should be more considerate and humane in the way it treats illegal foreign workers following the enforcement of the newly amended immigration law starting this month, said Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today.

She said although the government is concerned about the problems of aliens in the country, it should not, however, strain relationships with neighbouring countries in solving them.

"We are aware that there is a need to ensure that the workers enter our country with proper documents and that stern warning is necessary in enforcement.

"However, we should also be sensitive towards the feelings of these countries and the families of the workers. We should also take into consideration of their contribution to the country's development," said the party president in a statement.

She reminded the government not to insult and torture the arrested immigrants who were "from poor families and came here to make a living because of poverty in their homelands".

Money, properties confiscated

She said she had learnt that many of these workers had had their money and properties confiscated by the enforcement authorities when they were arrested but those complaints were not given due response.

"They were taken in because the agencies, many of them linked to Umno and national leaders, were only willing to pay low wages. But now the workers are deported in a rude manner when they are no longer needed.

"Their complaints must be investigated by the authorities. It is impossible that they do not have any money when they were arrested [as claimed by the authorities]," she said.

The amended immigration law came into effect on Aug 1, stipulating that those found guilty of passport violations will be liable to a maximum fine of RM10,000, five-year jail term, and up to six strokes of the rotan.

Following this, hundreds of illegal immigrants were reportedly arrested by immigration department and police in nationwide raids. At least 50 of them, mostly Indonesians, had been tried in court and sentenced to punishment.

Wan Azizah also urged the government to give special attention to Cambodian and Burmese Rohingya immigrants who had arrived in Malaysia illegally but would not be accepted back by their countries of origin.