Easy for illegal immigrants to enter Malaysia: deputy PM

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Despite Malaysia's efforts, it is still easy for illegal immigrants to enter the country due to its long coastline, the deputy prime minister said Sunday.

Najib Razak said the government would remain vigilant amid concerns that illegal immigrants have contributed to a rise in the crime rate.

"They (illegals) find it easy to come in as our coastline is too long for us to block them from entering altogether," Najib Razak was quoted saying by state news agency Bernama.

"We step up patrols, but as I said, our borders are very long ... It is not possible to constantly patrol the entire border," he said.

Peninsular Malaysia is flanked by Indonesia and the Philippines and also shares a border with Thailand to the north. On Borneo island, Malaysia's Sabah and Sarawak states neighbour Indonesia's Kalimantan.

Home Affairs Minister Mohamad Radzi Sheikh Ahmad was earlier quoted by Bernama as saying that nearly half of the 49,000 inmates in Malaysian prisons were foreigners.