I refer to the letter written by Pakistanis a bad choice and Employ Sri Lankans, not Pakistanis .

I am shocked to read of such uninformed opinions, bordering on racism. Yet, this is not the point that I wish to argue because Malaysians - who would fight tooth and nail to preserve their religions and who are taught them that all human beings are equal in the eyes of God - are basically racists, prejudiced and discriminative.

No amount of logic can erase such extreme and illogical attitudes - differing only in degrees - against another human being.

In my opinion, both the above letters have missed the most salient point of the whole issue - that the government has been totally irresponsible in its recent action against migrant workers .

The government does not seem to be sincere in its attempts to resolved the illegal immigrant problem which has now led to an acute labour shortage in the manufacturing, construction and plantation sectors.

It should be made clear that the problems facing illegal immigrants are many and not of their own doing. Many have been cheated and misled by unscrupulous agents. The lack of monitoring by both governments has also contributed to the crisis.

It is convenient to blame the migrant worker, alone and lonely with no financial resources or political or institutional support behind him or her. The truth is that our government and society at large were also instrumental in creating the current situation.

Let's face it - we need migrant workers because our people are unwilling to 'dirty' their hands in certain sectors. So why treat them with such contempt?

The government, before creating another scandal by hiring Pakistanis or workers from any other nation for that matter, should work closely with the Indonesian government to ensure that there is no delay in the system of allowing legalised Indonesian workers to return here.

This is the only honourable thing to do following its de-humanising action in cracking down on illegal migrant workers since March 1.