More than 150,000 foreign workers employed in restaurants and coffee shops are not able to return home when their visas expire because their employers are holding on to their passports, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) claimed today.

Its vice-president, A Balasubramaniam, said it was not the intention of the workers to overstay but they were being exploited by their employers who held onto their passports and refused to renew their expired visas.

“In view of this, the MTUC proposes that the government grant a special amnesty for this group to return to their countries of origin,” he added.

Balasubramaniam claimed that restaurant owners were not serious about employing locals and this was reflected in their half-hearted attempts to provide meagre salaries with unfavourable work conditions.

"For example, although the employers claimed that they were offering RM850 per month, this was for almost 12 hours of work and not eight hours as stipulated in Malaysia's labour laws," he added.

- Bernama