Malaysia approves recruitment of 369,000 foreign workers

Malaysia approves recruitment of 369,000 foreign workers

Agence-France Presse, Kuala Lumpur

The Malaysian government has approved the recruitment of
369,021 foreign construction workers through its "fast-lane"
program, an official said Monday.

Home Ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat said this figure
exceeded the number of foreign construction workers who returned
home during an amnesty for illegal immigrants ahead of the
introduction of harsh new penalties in August.

"During the amnesty period, some 468,000 illegal immigrants
voluntarily returned and almost half of them were construction
workers," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news
agency.

Aseh said the ministry had not been too strict in screening
the applications from 3,268 construction firms and had given its
approval to any number of workers applied for by the companies.

Illegal Indonesian immigrants made up 70 percent of the
building industry's 500,000 foreign workers before the crackdown,
according to the Master Builders Association of Malaysia (MBAM).

As building sites ground to a halt with the exodus of illegal
workers, property developers warned that project delays would
cost millions of dollars.

The government then reversed a ban on the recruitment of
Indonesians for the construction sector, which had been imposed
in February after two riots by Indonesian workers.