Indonesian migrant workers queue for water at a refugee camp on the Malaysian borders

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

JAKARTA, September 7 (IslamOnline) - In retaliation to Malaysia’s tough immigration laws that includes caning for illegal entry, a Muslim group in Jakarta, the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), is planning a nationwide ‘sweep’ to flush Malaysians working illegally in the country, news reports said on Saturday.

On Friday, September 6, the group wrote to Indonesia’s Minister of Justice and Human Rights announcing the planned cracked down was in retaliation for tough immigration measures imposed by neighboring Malaysia against illegal workers there, mostly from Indonesia, Jakarta’s DPA news agency reported.

IslamOnline tried to reach the leader of the group, Abu Bakar Bashir who is on the U.S. list of terrorists, but he was not available at his school in Solo, Central Java.

Bashir is one of the top leaders of the MMI and his open support for Osama Bin Laden has irritated the U.S. who sees him as a living symbol of what the U.S. fears for Indonesia. The MMI is lobbying to convert Indonesia into an Islamic state.

The Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) is a Muslim group that allegedly has links to al-Qaeda. The chairman of the MMI Fauzan al-Anshari said in the letter that the Indonesian government should impose tough measures on foreign workers in Indonesia, which boasts the world's largest Muslim population.

"Laskar Mujahidin (Majahidin Militia), along with other Islamic organizations will soon launch a sweep against foreign workers in Indonesia, especially in major cities across the country, to help impose immigration and labor regulations," al-Anshari said in his letter.

The letter named cities such as the North Sumatra's provincial capital of Medan, Palembang in South Sumatra, Surabaya in East Java, Solo in Central Java, Yogyakarta, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Jakarta for its crackdown on foreigners.

Though Anshari did not specifically mention the targets were Malaysians, it is clear that Malaysia’s anti-illegal immigrant laws has triggered the reaction from the MMI. There are several Malaysians working in Indonesia, many of them without proper permits, IslamOnline was told.

Many of them are married to locals but have not applied for the proper permits to stay in Indonesia and get employment. They could be the first to be targeted by the MMI, sources said.

Africans, Bangladeshis, Singaporeans and Pakistanis as well as many individuals from the Middle East also work illegally in Indonesia, many having their own businesses. However there are reasons to believe they may not be targeted.

The MMI said its ‘sweep’ was to collect data on whether the foreigners had official work permits and valid visas, as well as finding foreign workers occupying professions that could be held by Indonesians.

"If foreign nationalities are found violating the immigration regulations during the sweep, we will bring them instantly to the local immigration office to be processed in line with the existing laws," the letter said as published by several news agencies in Jakarta, including Kompas.

At the peak of the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan last year members of the Laskar Jihad (Holy Warriors) - another Muslim militant group in Indonesia - launched the country's first "sweep" in Solo. They searched local hotels for U.S. nationals whom they threatened to expel from the country.

Other groups such as the MMI promised to carry out sweeps in Jakarta at that time. There were reports that the American Embassy in Jakarta made police reports to seek protection from such sweeps.

The Solo sweep sparked criticism from the government but nothing was done to prevent thousands of Westerners from canceling their trips to the country in the wake of the ‘sweeps’.

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