KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5: More than 1,600 Indonesian illegal immigrants who rioted and set fire to a detention centre in Malaysia were deported within hours, police said on Wednesday.

The deportees were among more than 2,000 inmates who set four buildings ablaze at the detention centre in southern Johor state late on Tuesday.

The remaining 679 detainees from the razed centre — who include illegal immigrants from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, the Philippines, China, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia and Myanmar — were to be sent to two other detention camps.

A total of 1,618 of the Indonesian detainees who were involved in the riot, including 74 women, were deported, the Bernama news agency reported.

It quoted an official as saying the immigrants were deported immediately as there was no room at other detention camps in neighbouring states.

The official said the cause of the riot was still under investigation, adding that it was the third such incident at the centre this year.

The detainees threw stones and bottles as police moved in and about 10 to 15 of the illegal immigrants were injured but there were no serious casualties, said Abu Bakar Said, Johor’s deputy police chief.

“Because this is a riot, we have to be tough in subduing the situation. Those throwing stones and bottles also injured some of their fellow immigrants.”

Abu Bakar said it took two hours for police to get the situation under control.

“We had to take some time first to persuade some of the illegals to move aside and then we acted to subdue the remaining problem makers,” he said.

Last week, Malaysia announced plans to send about 10,000 Indonesian illegal immigrants home each month, saying there were about 450,000 in the country.

The government said on Monday that 1,700 illegals would be deported this weekend to reduce congestion at detention centres, bringing the total number of Indonesian repatriations in recent months to 11,325.

The government has said that illegal immigrants have contributed to a growth in crime and other social problems here and also to the spread of diseases and squatter colonies.

Economic problems have also led to job losses in Malaysia.—AFP