Mahathir warns foreign workers<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday warned
\nforeign workers to abide the laws of the country following a riot
\nby a group of Indonesians.<\/p>\n
\"Please go back to your own country (if you want to cause
\ntrouble), the premier was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency
\nin the northern Kedah state.<\/p>\n
On Thursday some 400 Indonesian textile workers staged a
\nviolent protest in central Malaysia after police tried to detain
\n16 of their co-workers for drug abuse, police said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The rioters overturned a police truck, van and a police car
\nand then retreated to their five-story hostel block from where
\nthey jeered at the police and threw chairs, tables, bottles and
\nstones.<\/p>\n
Ten Indonesian workers were eventually detained by police for
\nsuspected drug abuse after a tense stand-off and intervention by
\nIndonesian embassy officials.<\/p>\n
The incident took place in a textile factory in central Negri
\nSembilan state.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said the influx of foreign immigrants into the
\ncountry could create an unhealthy situation in the employment
\nsector.<\/p>\n
\"We must be careful. If many foreign immigrants work here, it
\nwould appear as if we are too dependent on them and in the end
\nsome of our employment sectors will be controlled by them,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Zainal Rampak, president of the Malaysian Trades Union
\nCongress (MTUC), told AFP that those who participated in the
\nrioting should be charged and, if found guilty, punished and
\ndeported.<\/p>\n
\"Such wild behavior must be nipped in the bud,\" Zainal said,
\nadding that MTUC had warned the government that foreign workers
\nmust be screened to ensure only workers of good character were
\nallowed in.<\/p>\n
Zainal said the foreign workers in the country should be
\nencouraged to join a union to avoid such incidents in the future.<\/p>",
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