Malaysia said today it would crack down on the abuse of foreign student visas after allegations that Bangladeshis banned for being handsome were sneaking in as students and working illegally.

Home Affairs Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the permits of private colleges found to be abusing foreign student visas would be revoked.

"We don't want people to make a fool of us by finding ways to circumvent our regulations," Radzi was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.

"From now on, we will re-examine all the procedures and see how we can lessen the possibility for abuse of visa rulings," he said.

Radzi on the weekend likened Bangladeshis to Bollywood heartthrobs and said they were banned from working in the country two years ago because Malaysian women were being allured by their good looks.

"They have blue eyes and look like Hindi film actors and they create social problems here," Radzi was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times yesterday.

Under fire

His comments triggered heavy criticism from migrant rights group Tenaganita, who accused the minister of racism and said relationships between Malaysian women and foreign workers were a natural development.

Despite the ban, Bangladeshis were found working at construction sites and restaurants, Radzi said. He accused labour agents sneaking in Bangladeshis by getting them student visas rather than applying for work permits.

The government has reportedly also said it was monitoring private colleges whose enrollees are mainly Bangladeshis, many of whom are not showing up for classes.

Malaysia relies on foreign unskilled labor to do dirty, poorly paid work that locals shun, and is one of Asia's largest importers of foreign labour.