JAKARTA - Twenty-four Indonesian workers have died of illness in an Indonesian border town after returning from Malaysia to escape a crackdown and thousands of others are threatened with sickness, health officials said Thursday.

The deaths have occurred since tens of thousands of Indonesians began returning home in late July ahead of tough new Malaysian immigration laws that threatened jail and caning for illegal workers.

Government figures say more than 30,000 Indonesian workers and their families are now estimated to be living in Nunukan on the border with Sabah, many of them in tent cities.

Medical staff say they treat hundreds of others daily for a variety of complaints.

Data shown to AFP by Doctor Ridwan Masrun, the East Kalimantan provincial health chief, shows that from July 29 until Thursday, 24 adults, children and prematurely-born infants died in Nunukan.

The victims succumbed to various illnesses such as severe diarrhoea and bronchial asthma, said Ridwan, who left Nunukan on Aug 15.