I am amazed at what Irene Fernandez of Tenaganita wrote in her letter Immigrants are people too (Jan 21).

Is her non-governmental organisation supposed to oppose whatever the government do or say just because she's aligned to an opposition party? Or is she just interested in generating publicity to champion her cause?

First of all, whoever breaks the law should be punished. Many Indonesians chose to enter Malaysia illegally although they know the consequences if they were caught. Our government have in fact been very lenient with them so far but we can no longer afford to turn a blind eye. Deporting them back without punishment is not the solution as many of them choose to re-enter Malaysia again and again.

Secondly, I don't see the need to waste money on building detention camps for them. Our rakyat money is better spent on improving life for our own needy Malaysians. Our 'softie' attitude has encouraged many of them to return and in many cases even embolden many of them to take the law into their hand as recent events have shown.

I believe destitute Malaysians deserve our attention and concern more than these illegal immigrants.

Thirdly, Irene asked us to ask ourselves why we are treating the illegals as such? But, has she ever come across those victims of crimes committed by these illegal immigrants? Those who have been raped, injured, robbed, and those whose relatives or friends have suffered similar fate.

I wonder if she has ever given a thought to Malaysian victims or if she has ever put herself in their shoes. Does she know what it is like if one of these victims is a daughter, friend or relative? Does she know what it is like to live in an area where construction sites mean illegal workers and endless security problems. Just spend a few weeks or months with these residents and she will know how these people are suffering.

I applaud our government for taking steps to rid our country of the social threat. It is long overdue.

Troublemakers are troublemakers. They do not help our economy and our country is better off without them.

I say Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was right in saying that priority should be given to less problematic labour from countries other than Indonesia. I strongly support the government initiative to solve this problem.