JAKARTA (AFP) - Unscrupulous Malaysian businessmen are partly to blame for the thousands of Indonesian illegal immigrants working in that country, an Indonesian minister says.

"The illegal Indonesian workers have caused problems to the (Kuala Lumpur) government but their overseas employment has also brought some profits to Malaysian businessmen," Manpower Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea was quoted as saying by the state Antara news agency.

Nuwa Wea, quoted in a late Wednesday report, said Malaysian bosses appeared to prefer illegal workers because they could be paid less than legal ones.

"And if the Malaysian businesses ran into trouble with these workers, particularly with regard to wages, they usually will report to the police that some illegal workers are serving their companies," he said.

Social problems

The minister said he would visit neighbouring Malaysia soon to discuss the problem but gave no date. He said Jakarta had made efforts to repatriate the illegals.

Muhammad Djaelani, head of Indonesia's East Java manpower office, said Malaysia plans to deport another 4,200 illegal Indonesian workers this month and next. The first batch of 2,500 people would be sent home on Nov 19 aboard an Indonesian navy ship.

The Malaysian government has said that illegal immigrants have contributed to a growth in crime and other social problems and also to the spread of diseases and squatter colonies.

There have been several previous mass repatriations aboard Indonesian navy ships.