Malaysia freezes intake of foreign workers including Bangladesh
The Malaysian government has decided to suspend the recruitment of all foreign workers including those from Bangladesh, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
‘We urge all employers to recruit local workers,’ said Dr Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, after meeting Army personnel at Kem Muara Tuang on Friday, Malaysian online daily The Star reports.
He said the suspension would be in place while the Government reviewed the two-tier levy programme for foreign workers.
Dr Ahmad Zahid added that existing illegal workers in Malaysia would be detained and deported.
Another report on foreign workers published by Malaysin online daily The Star that mentioned ‘1.5 million registered workers in Bangladesh, not all coming to Malaysia’
There are a total of 1.5 million Bangladeshis registered for future employment in foreign countries, but that is not the number of workers coming to Malaysia, clarifies Datuk Seri Richard Riot.
‘The perception that 1.5 million workers will be brought in from Bangladesh to work in Malaysia is not true,’ said the Human Resources Minister.
‘The figure is, in fact, the number of Bangladeshis registered with its ministry of expatriate’s welfare and overseas employment for the purpose of seeking employment in foreign countries, including Malaysia,’ he told a press conference here on Friday.
He said the Bangladeshis were seeking employment in 139 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
He hoped the clarification would allay fears and concern that a huge influx of foreigners, particularly from Bangladesh, were on their way to Malaysia.
As of December last year, there are 2,135,035 documented foreign workers in Malaysia, of which 282,287 are from Bangladesh.
Riot also said the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Dhaka on Thursday was similar to what the Government had previously signed with Indonesia, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
