Mahathir warns foreign workers

Mahathir warns foreign workers

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday warned
foreign workers to abide the laws of the country following a riot
by a group of Indonesians.

"Please go back to your own country (if you want to cause
trouble), the premier was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency
in the northern Kedah state.

On Thursday some 400 Indonesian textile workers staged a
violent protest in central Malaysia after police tried to detain
16 of their co-workers for drug abuse, police said on Thursday.

The rioters overturned a police truck, van and a police car
and then retreated to their five-story hostel block from where
they jeered at the police and threw chairs, tables, bottles and
stones.

Ten Indonesian workers were eventually detained by police for
suspected drug abuse after a tense stand-off and intervention by
Indonesian embassy officials.

The incident took place in a textile factory in central Negri
Sembilan state.

Mahathir said the influx of foreign immigrants into the
country could create an unhealthy situation in the employment
sector.

"We must be careful. If many foreign immigrants work here, it
would appear as if we are too dependent on them and in the end
some of our employment sectors will be controlled by them," he
said.

Zainal Rampak, president of the Malaysian Trades Union
Congress (MTUC), told AFP that those who participated in the
rioting should be charged and, if found guilty, punished and
deported.

"Such wild behavior must be nipped in the bud," Zainal said,
adding that MTUC had warned the government that foreign workers
must be screened to ensure only workers of good character were
allowed in.

Zainal said the foreign workers in the country should be
encouraged to join a union to avoid such incidents in the future.