Laid off foreigners may pose problems

Laid off foreigners may pose problems

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): The Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation
warned yesterday that laying off some one million foreign workers
amid the country's economic slowdown could pose social and
security problems.

The foundation's president, Lee Lam Thye, said the foundation
was concerned as 80 percent of Malaysia's 700,000 construction
workers were foreigners and the country's index crime had been
steadily rising since 1994.

The unloading of a huge wave of unemployed foreign labor on
the streets could lead to social problems and pose a security
threat to the public, he warned.

The number of index crimes -- a combination of property and
violent crimes across the country -- rose to 108,807 cases in the
first 11 months of 1997, up 19 percent from a year earlier, he
added.

The government said Friday it was considering expelling
foreign workers as the "cost" of Malaysia's economic downturn,
with an estimated one million people threatened with
unemployment.