Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda warned Malaysia today that deporting illegal Indonesian workers during the local election period could hurt bilateral relations.

Malaysia earlier this month announced it planned a major new crackdown on illegal immigrants which could see more than a million people detained and deported.

Wirayuda told reporters Indonesia's election period was a sensitive time and the deportation of about 600,000 illegal workers from Malaysia would create problems.

Indonesia will hold a presidential election run-off between incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her ex-security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on September 20.

"We have told the Malaysians to understand our situation. We are holding elections and this issue is a very sensitive one, not only sensitive domestically but also as far as bilateral relations are concerned," he said.

Wirayuda said Malaysia had agreed not to deport workers before the election period was over.

"Now we have two months to prepare ourselves," he said.

Major headache

A mass influx of deported workers could be a major headache for Megawati.

In 2002 she travelled overseas when about 200,000 workers were stranded at squalid camps near the border after being deported from Malaysia, prompting accusations she was indifferent to their plight.

The Malaysian government said there were an estimated 1.2 million illegal workers in the country and close to 400,000 people would be deployed to help round them up.

Most of the foreign workers are from neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines, drawn to relatively prosperous Malaysia by jobs in construction, plantation work and services.

Malaysia introduced harsh new immigration laws in August 2002, preceeded by a crackdown on illegal immigrants which saw nearly half a million people repatriated during a four-month amnesty period.

However, this caused a severe labour shortage in the construction and plantation sectors, and the government later had to fast-track approvals for recruiting foreign workers for certain industries.

Malaysian Home Minister Azmi Khalid said this month that the government was bent on eliminating all foreigners working illegally in Malaysia.