Having Undergone A Legal Process, 314 Indonesian Citizens With Problems In Malaysia Have Been Returned To The Country

The process of repatriating hundreds of Indonesian citizens who are migrant workers. (Photo via Antara/Humas KJRI Kuching/Teofilusianto Timothy

JAKARTA - A total of 314 problematic Indonesian citizens (WNI) in Malaysia have been repatriated. This repatriation was accompanied by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) Kuching

The repatriation of Indonesian citizens from Malaysia was carried out on February 3-4, 2023. A total of 114 were repatriated on Friday, February 3. While the rest was dispatched to Indonesia today.

"During the past two days, we have accompanied the process of repatriating troubled Indonesian citizens from Malaysia through national borders in Entikong," said Indonesian Consul General Kuching, Raden Sigit Witjaksoni, as quoted by Antara, Saturday, February 4.

According to him, as many as 314 Indonesian citizens have undergone legal proceedings by the Malaysian Immigration Office because they do not have immigration documents.

There were also several Indonesian citizens who were sent home who had passports, but their validity period had expired.

"The Indonesian citizens went to Malaysia to work or become migrant workers, but were not equipped with immigration documents," he said.

During the deportation process, the Indonesian Consulate General in Kuching also helped take care of repatriation documents, such as passport-like travel documents (SPLP), so that the repatriation process went safely and smoothly.

Sigit added that the repatriation of hundreds of Indonesian citizens was carried out from Bekenu, Miri, which is about 850 kilometers from Kuching. Meanwhile, from Bekenu to the Entikong Cross-Border Post (PLBN) was taken for approximately 18 hours.

"After the Entikong PLBN, we handed over the Indonesian citizens to the Entikong Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI) to then be returned to their respective areas of origin," explained Sigit.