The government should appoint an independent body to investigate into the riot involving Indonesian workers in Negeri Sembilan last week as such incidents are manifestations of social problems, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today.

"There have been allegations of police harassment and other issues such as hostel facilities and welfare of the workers," said PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan in a faxed statement to malaysiakini today.

Last Thursday, some 400 Indonesian textile workers of the Hualon textile factory staged a violent protest in the industrial town of Nilai, about 30km south of Kuala Lumpur, after police tried to detain 16 of their co-workers for drug abuse.

The rioters overturned a police truck, van and a police car and then retreated to their five-storey hostel block from where they jeered at the police and threw chairs, tables, bottles and stones.

PSM believes that this incident and the last riot which occurred at the Pekan Nanas immigration detention centre did not happen in isolation.

"These incidents are in fact manifestations of social and other problems faced by foreign workers in Malaysia and should be addressed in the right perspective," said Arutchelvan.

Workers blamed

He added that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken the easy way out by putting the blame on the Indonesian workers.

On Friday following the riot, Mahathir warned foreign workers to abide by the laws of the country.

"Please go back to your own country [if you want to cause trouble]", the premier was quoted as saying in Kedah by Bernama news agency.

According to Arutchelvan, it is a common fact that most foreign workers are badly treated by their employers.

"Their bargaining power is low [being foreigners] and there isn't enough protection for these workers," he said.

He added that most foreign workers have complained of being bullied, harassed and mistreated by the authorities, ranging from the police to immigration officers.

Arutchelvan also claimed that foreign workers' hostel facilities are most of the time left in deplorable conditions as employers will spend only the bare minimum on worker's welfare but demand commitment and loyalty.

"It is, therefore, very important for us to go to the root of the problems," he said.

Malaysia has an estimated 700,000 foreign workers, mainly from neighbouring Indonesia, as well as hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

Most of them are engaged in the low-paying sectors such as construction, plantation and services.