Compassion has limits, so must immigration

Tipping point: A bus carrying Myanmar nationals being repatriated from Malaysia seen heading toward to navel base in Lumut. —AFP

IT’S a problem that has been festering for far too long. Now, Malaysia has reached a point where we can no longer avoid having an honest conversation about illegal immigrants and refugees living and working in the country.

We already have more than 200,000 UN-registered refugees and maybe tens of thousands more unregistered ones. The Government’s decision to begin repatriating Myanmar nationals who are willing and eligible to return home is therefore understandable and deserves to be supported.

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