Pekanbaru. The Immigration Office on Sunday (22/01) questioned the helmsman and five crew of KM Bahtera, a ship found carrying at least 140 illegal Indonesian migrant workers from Malaysia, an official said.

Sutrisno, the Immigration Office Head at Riau's Justice and Human Rights Agency, said KM Bahtera was nabbed in waters off Riau's Rokan Hilir district on Friday evening, having carried 140 illegal Indonesian workers from Malaysia's Port Klang.

"The helmsman and the boat crew have been transferred to the Bagansiapi-api Immigration Office in Rokan Hilir for questioning," Sutrisno told state news agency Antara.

The helmsman was identified by his initials ELM. The boat crew are FB, BP, MY, DA and IA.

"They don't have proper documents for the boat to make the journey from Malaysia. Apart from the helmsman, none of them had ID cards either," Sutrisno said.

The seven-tonne boat had 110 men and 30 women on boar, all illegal migrant workers from Indonesia, when it was nabbed for failing to show proper documents to the authorities.

"The men and women carry Indonesian passports and have been working in Malaysia without proper documentation," Charaghita Yuantoro of the Dumai Immigration Office said.

After a series of questionings, the migrant workers have returned at their own cost to their hometowns in Aceh, North Sumatra and Java.