Abdullah Badawi blames immigrants for crime

Most have come from poorer neighbours like Indonesia and the Philippines in search of work.

The impact of the protracted political and economic crises in Indonesia has driven hundreds of thousands to move abroad in search of work.

The most popular destination is inevitably Malaysia - a close neighbour with a similar language and culture but with a much more advanced economy.

Slowing economy

The hunger for jobs has also attracted large numbers of Filipinos to Sabah, the Malaysian area of Borneo which lies close to the southern Philippines.

With a population of just over 20 million, Malaysia does need extra workers to do many of the more menial jobs.

But with the country now badly affected by the slowing economy in the United States, the government is under pressure to control the flow of illegal immigrants.

Mr Badawi accused the incomers of causing more crime and other social problems and he said he would propose increasing the punishment for illegally staying in Malaysia to include caning.

Filipinos flee poverty at home for jobs in Malaysia

He said the increased penalties would also apply to those who helped to bring illegal aliens into the country.

Given the desperate conditions many of the immigrants are fleeing in their own countries and the difficulty of catching them, it is not clear how effective a deterrent the stiffer penalties will be.

The new policy will also do little to ease the difficulties of those whose jobs are at risk from the economic down-turn.

Most of those are in Malaysia's once-booming high technology sector, which exports heavily to the United States - and that is not an area where poorly-educated illegal immigrants go looking for work.