More migrant workers die in Indonesian border town
Overcrowding and poor sanitation at an Indonesian border town are claiming more lives of migrant workers living in spartan conditions while waiting for permits to return to Malaysia.
The
Jakarta Post
reported today that 66 people had died due to lack of food, clean water and proper sanitation in Nunukan, an island across the border from Sandakan, Sabah, while they waited for permission to return to their jobs and families across the border.
Since late July, Indonesian social workers have estimated that at least 100,000 migrant workers have arrived at the border town after the Malaysian government threatened to jail and cane illegal workers convicted of an offence under new immigration laws.
According to the Jakarta Post , over 17,000 of these workers were sent back to Malaysia with whatever documents they have.
The newspaper said that while some returned to their hometowns, at least another 20,000 had decided to stay in makeshift shelters, and camp out on sidewalks, or at vacant plots of land in the island, while they await similar opportunity.
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