Malaysian law to curb foreign workers, illegal immigration: report

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Malaysia is drafting legislation to reduce its dependency on foreign workers and curb the influx of illegal immigrants, reports said Tuesday.

"The government views with great concern the huge number of foreign workers in the country. It has become a serious problem as all kinds of social and security problems are cropping up," Deputy Home Affairs Minister Tan Chai Ho said according to the Star newspaper.

Malaysia is home to an estimated 2.6 million legal and illegal foreign workers. They are critical to the nation's valuable manufacturing and agriculture sectors, and many householders rely on foreign domestic workers.

The new legislation would tighten requirements on hiring foreign workers and protect salary payment, as well as set up a mechanism to deal with complaints, the Star said.

"The proposed Act will allow the government to monitor the workers and control their behaviour more effectively so that they won't create problems for the country or society," Tan said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said this month that Malaysia's dependence on foreign workers was an "addiction" that needed to be cured, and that most of them were unskilled and did not contribute to nation-building.



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