The government sets out to teach illegal immigrants a lesson by sending hundreds of thousands fleeing home recently under threat of jail and caning, but learnt one itself the economy needs migrant workers badly.

Local newspapers today focussed on an embarrassing about-turn in which the government reversed a ban on the employment of Indonesians in the construction sector and agreed to a new recruitment drive.

The move came after property developers warned construction sites were grinding to a halt and project delays would cost millions of ringgit and possibly push house prices up by as much as 10 percent.

Illegal Indonesian immigrants made up 70 percent of the building industry's 500,000 foreign workers, according to the Master Builders Association of Malaysia (MBAM).