The Malaysian authorities will ensure there are sufficient boats to ferry thousands of Indonesian illegal immigrants back home under an amnesty programme during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a senior minister said on Sunday.

"We will organise more ferries. Police and immigration officials will be deployed to ensure an orderly departure," Home Minister Azmi Khalid told AFP .

"This is the best offer we can make. I urge all illegals in Malaysia to leave without fear of penalties during the current Muslim fasting month."

Immigration officials said that some 160,000 illegal Indonesians are expected to return home by sea from the southern Johor state and Port Klang, in central Selangor state.

Azmi advised the illegals to obtain travel documents from their respective missions before departure and if they wished to return, "please come back as legal workers".

The 17-day amnesty programme begins from Oct 29 to Nov 14.

"After this period, we will come down hard on illegals. Don't blame us," Azmi warned.

Going home

Abu Bakar Yeop, Johor immigration director said that some 100,000 illegal Indonesians are expected to depart from three ports in the state.

"All eight operators at the three ferry terminals have agreed to use their 27 boats, which can take some 18,000 people a day," he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper.

Che Mamat Abdullah, Selangor immigration director said some 60,000 illegal immigrants in the state are expected to leave through Port Klang to Tanjung Balai, Dumai and Belawan in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Under tough laws introduced two years ago, illegal immigrants face jail sentences of up to five years or fines of up to RM10,000, or both, plus whipping.

Eighteen thousand illegal immigrants have been whipped in Malaysian prisons in the past two years.

A total of 6,000 illegal immigrants currently being held at detention centres nationwide would be allowed to return to their countries, provided they possess valid travel documents and are not witnesses in court cases, Azmi said.

There are an estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants in Malaysia, mainly from neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines, drawn to relatively prosperous Malaysia by jobs in construction, plantation work and services.