Hundreds of migrant workers cannot continue their job regarding to the unstable security condition at Sabah.Nunukan, East Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - The Malaysian government has promised to ensure the security and safety of Indonesian nationals and migrant workers in Sabah, official at Indonesian consulate in Tawau said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the statement, the Malaysian government would ensure the safety and security of Indonesian national and migrant workers following a clash with gunmen from the Southern Philippines.
"Hundreds of Indonesian Migrant Workers that affected by the clash at Sabah have been evacuated from the conflict area to a saver site in Felda Plantation to avoid any casualties," said Indonesian Consulate Mohammad Soleh at Tawau, Thursday.
According to him, Malaysian security forces as well as Sabah authority have established agreement with Indonesian Representative to ensure the migrant workers security who worked at the region.
"Malaysian government has made an agreement in order to maintain the security of Indonesian Nationals," Soleh said.
He added that Federal Land Development Agency (Felda) has fulfilled the staple needs for Indonesian Migrant Workers who conduct evacuation effort.
"We have coordinated with Felda and they promised to fulfill worker`s daily needs on the refugee site," Soleh said.
Consul admitted that hundreds of migrant workers cannot continue their job regarding to the unstable security condition at Sabah.
Besides, Soleh denied information about the existence of some Indonesian Migrant Workers who take evacuation at Indonesian Consulate of Tawau and will be repatriated to Nunukan District of East Kalimantan.
"There are no migrant workers who evacuated to Tawau as the distance between conflict area to Tawau is far away, about 400 kilometers," Soleh said.
In terms of information about the repatriation effort for Indonesian Migrant Workers, Soleh said Indonesian government has no plan to do the effort yet as Malaysian government guarantees the security and daily life condition for the workers.
"It is not true that there will be huge repatriation effort for Indonesian Migrant Workers. However, if there were several workers who returned to the homeland, it was their own desires," Soleh said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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