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.