KL to tighten rules for foreign workers<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysia plans to tighten rules for hiring foreign labour
\nbecause there is an oversupply of migrant workers in the country,
\nreports said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn was quoted as saying by
\nthe Star that Malaysia needed one million foreign workers but
\nthere were currently 1.2 million registered with the ministry,
\nexcluding illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n
The cabinet is concerned about excess foreign labour and wants
\nto plug the loopholes that cause the oversupply because it
\nundermines the hire "locals first" policy, he said.<\/p>\n
"We want to tighten the regulations on the hiring of foreign
\nworkers because we fear there are some employers, especially in
\nthe manufacturing sector, who prefer to hire foreign workers ...
\nrather then employ locals just to save costs," Fong said.<\/p>\n
Among the measures identified to make it harder to bring in
\nforeign workers include abolishing middlemen, requiring employers
\nto seek ministry's approval before hiring and encouraging
\nflexible work hours, the report said.<\/p>\n
"We want a system that will make it more difficult to hire
\nforeign labour while increasing our use of capital-intensive
\nequipment," Fong was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.<\/p>\n
"The government has always viewed foreign labour as a
\ntemporary measure in our economy's transformation from being
\nlabour- to capital-intensive."<\/p>\n
Malaysia, which is also home to an estimated one million
\nillegal immigrants, mainly from Indonesia, has long sought to cut
\nits reliance on foreign labour, most of whom are engaged in low-
\npaying non-skilled sectors such as construction, plantation and
\nservices.<\/p>\n
It introduced harsh new immigration laws in August 2002 and
\ncracked down on illegal immigrants which saw nearly half a
\nmillion of them being repatriated during a four-month amnesty
\nperiod in that year.<\/p>\n
However, this caused a severe labor shortage in the
\nconstruction and plantation sectors, and the government later had
\nto fast-track approvals for recruiting foreign workers for
\ncertain industries.<\/p>",
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