Indonesians last choice of Malaysia's foreign labor list
Indonesians last choice of Malaysia's foreign labor list
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia is to tighten requirements for hiring foreign labour and will place Indonesian workers last on the list of desirable entrants after a violent riot, reports said Saturday.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying that the government would give priority to workers from countries other than Indonesia.
"They (Indonesians) are giving us a lot of trouble. They try to smuggle themselves into the country and become violent when they are arrested. We cannot accept this kind of behavior," the premier said.
"Maybe in the future, we may accept workers from other countries... workers who do not give us problems."
Some 400 Indonesian textile workers staged a violent rampage Thursday in central Negeri Sembilan state after police tried to detain 16 of their co-workers for drug abuse.
The rioters overturned a police truck, a van and a police car and then retreated to their hostel from where they jeered at the police and threw chairs, tables, bottles and stones.
Eleven Indonesians were eventually detained by police for suspected drug abuse after a tense stand-off and intervention by Indonesian embassy officials.
The incident came just over a month after more than 2,000 illegal immigrants, including 1,560 Indonesians, rioted at a detention center and torched a section of their quarters to escape deportation.
Mahathir said the government would not tolerate any form of rioting and told the Indonesians to respect the laws of the host country.
"We allow the foreigners to stay here to earn a living but if they feel that the country is no longer good for them, please leave the country," he was quoted as saying by The Star.
The premier said the influx of foreign immigrants into the country was due to Malaysians refusing to take up heavy manual jobs, warning this could create an unhealthy situation.
"We should be careful because if their numbers get bigger, we will be under their control as they know we depend on them," he added.
Deputy Premier and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government would tighten the conditions for the recruitment of foreign labour, including the documentation and qualification process.
"We definitely want to impose more stringent conditions when we take in foreign workers in future," he added.
Police have not made any fresh arrests following the riot but were monitoring the hostel were the Indonesian workers live.
Malaysia is home to some 700,000 foreign workers, mainly from Indonesia, as well as hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. Most of them are engaged in low-paying non-skilled sectors such as construction, plantation and services.