Malaysia is watching all entry points fearing that many illegal migrants would seek to return to Malaysia after going home for the Muslim festival of Aidilfitri, media reports said today.

Marine police would ensure that foreign workers without proper permits who left the country would not be able to re-enter, the New Straits Times said quoting Aseh Che Mat, the Home Ministry's secretary-general.

"We don't have the figures but we know this is happening," he said.

To date, a total of 1,200 illegal immigrants have been caned by Malaysian authorities under tough immigration laws introduced on August 1 last year.

Mandatory jail

Both illegal immigrants and their employers face a mandatory six months in jail and possibly up to six strokes of the cane under the new laws.

"The government's decision to implement this law has succeeded in drastically reducing the problem of illegal immigrants," Aseh Che Mat was quoted as saying by the Malay-language Utusan Malaysia.

More than 300,000 mainly Indonesian illegal immigrants left Malaysia last year under a four-month amnesty. - AFP