Illegals migrant workers gone, KL faces virtual shutdown

Illegals migrant workers gone, KL faces virtual shutdown

The Straits Times, Asia News Network/Kuala Lumpur

Two weeks after sending back hundreds and thousands of illegal foreign workers, Malaysia is facing a virtual shutdown in construction sites, restaurants, factories and even a severe dip in business at small mom and pop grocery shops.

Malaysia wants the foreigners -- mostly Indonesians -- to return legally, but a delay which has been blamed on Jakarta has disrupted business and daily life in many parts of the country. "I have many customers who are foreign workers. They buy eggs, instant noodles and Milo (milk) from me, but now they have all disappeared and business has been bad," said KA Abdul Kader, who runs a grocery shop in Setapak just outside the city here.

Many businesses depend on foreign workers for survival. Small telephone shops known as Wartel, where foreign workers go to make cheap telephone calls home, have also suffered badly. One Wartel operator here told The Sunday Times his outlet had been quiet, with just a few customers every day, since the amnesty period for foreign workers to return home ended on Feb. 28.

He said that if the poor business continued, he would have to close down, a fate that has already befallen many Indian restaurants.

"The problem is serious," Indian Restaurant Operators Association president R. Ramalingam Pillai was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times, a Malaysian daily.

He said 56 Indian restaurants had closed down nationwide. Indian Muslim eateries also report a shortage of up to 8,000 workers.

Looi Teong Chye, president of the Small and Medium Industries Association which represents thousands of factories, said many had to cancel orders because of the labor shortage.

"Many of them are already facing problems and the shortage of workers may be the final blow," he told the New Straits Times. He expects many factories to shut down soon if new foreign workers do not arrive. He said:

"We are still in the dark as to what actually is going on. We want to know whether we can apply for fresh foreign workers." The Malaysian Employers Federation says some 250,000 foreign workers are urgently needed.

Kuala Lumpur has given Jakarta a month to resolve the delay in bringing back its workers.

Hundreds and thousands of them are stuck at more than 10 administrative centers in Indonesia which are supposed to process their legal re-entry into Malaysia.

"We have informed them that if these delays are not resolved within a month, the Malaysian government may be forced to open up its labor market to other countries," Home Minister Azmi Khalid said last week.

Until last week, barely 500 Indonesian workers had come back. Several other countries have already offered to provide workers.