Malaysia Weighs Allowing More Foreign Workers - Paper

Associated Press
Saturday, February 19, 2005

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia, facing a severe labor shortage, plans to let more business sectors hire foreign workers - a potential boon for labor-exporting countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and India, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Currently, foreigners work mostly at rubber and palm-oil plantations, construction sites, restaurants and as maids.

The newspaper quoted Home Minister Azmi Khalid as saying the farming sector, as well as small and medium-size industries, may also be allowed to hire temporary foreign workers at their busiest times - such as harvest, and high-production periods for factories.

These sectors would be allowed to have foreigners comprise up to 30% of their work force during peak seasons, the Star said.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said many industries were facing a shortage of laborers, the national news agency Bernama reported. "Some businesses might be forced to close if they could not employ foreign workers," Najib said.

Najib said the plan would enable the government to regulate the entry of foreign workers more effectively, provide them protection under the law, and help industries step up production.

The proposal has been approved by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but it needs Parliament's approval.

The Star quoted Azmi as saying Malaysia's handling of foreign labor needs a total overhaul "to deregulate it to fit market needs and to address many blind spots in the present system."

Current restrictions have resulted in many foreigners, mostly from Indonesia, being hired illegally. Many here blame the illegal workers - who are often abandoned without work or pay by unscrupulous employers - for increasing crime in Malaysian cities.

About 1 million Indonesians work legally in Malaysia, forming the backbone of the country's work force in menial jobs spurned by most Malaysians.

The number of illegal workers was believed to have reached roughly 1 million when the government announced an amnesty program in October. About 400,000 have returned home since then, and the rest have two more weeks before a crackdown begins on March 1. Those caught after that will be charged, jailed and later deported.

The illegal worker problems had soured Malaysia-Indonesia relations, but their governments made up after Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently visited Malaysia.

Najib Saturday said he welcomed Indonesia's decision not to sue Malaysian employers for allegedly not paying the wages of illegal Indonesian immigrants, Bernama reported.

"This problem actually cannot be solved by taking legal action," said Najib. "We have to do it through administrative means and negotiations, and the (Malaysian) government is very sympathetic and is prepared to cooperate."