Illustrative image (Source: Bernama)

Jakarta - The issue of Indonesian illegal immigrant workers (PATI) was the main agenda of the recent meeting between the Director General of Indonesian Immigration Silmy Karim and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.

In a statement, Silmy said the visit to Malaysian Immigration headquarters is aimed at finding a solution for PATI so that they can become legal workers.

He said the Indonesian side is ready to issue passports to the illegal workers who are working and suggested that the Malaysian Immigration issue work permits with certain procedures till they have complete documents.

The meeting also touched on efforts to prevent human trafficking. According to the statement, there are 450,000 Indonesian workers recorded by the Malaysian Government so far, compared to 1.5 million workers recorded by the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia has repatriated 11,000 illegal Indonesian workers, and a total of 309 Indonesians are still at the Malaysian Immigration Detention Depot.

Prior to his arrival in Malaysia, Silmy inspected the Indonesian Immigration office in Pontianak and Entikong, West Kalimantan on June 5. He also visited the Tebedu Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex which nears border between Malaysia and Indonesia.