Malaysia will seek cooperation from neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the country, following a recent mass deportation exercise, a junior minister said Saturday.

"We will request Indonesia and the Philippines to beef up security, especially in waters off Sabah," Deputy Defence Minister Mohamed Shafie Apdal was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Eastern Sabah state on Borneo island shares a land and sea border with the two Southeast Asian countries.

Mohamed said the measures were to prevent deported illegal immigrants from sneaking back into Malaysia through their common border.

Malaysian security forces have been placed on alert and surveillance aircraft have been deployed to prevent border intrusions, the minister said.

"I've just returned from inspection of several locations in Sabah and the situation is fully under control. Our personnel have been stationed at strategic locations," he said in the northern state of Perak.

Security cooperation

Mohamed said the security cooperation would also assist the Philippines to tackle the problem of rebel groups such as the Abu Sayyaf which may try to escape to Malaysia following military operations by Manila.

During the initial security operations in the Philippines, there were attempts by the Muslim rebels to enter Sabah but they were thwarted by Malaysian security forces, he said.

Malaysia recently launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants, who flock to the relatively wealthy Southeast Asian nation in search of jobs.

Some 380,000 people, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines, fled Malaysia during a four-month amnesty ahead of the introduction last month of a tough new immigration law which carries harsh punishments for illegal immigrants, including jail terms and caning. AFP