Malaysia rethinks ban on Indonesian workers: Report

Malaysia rethinks ban on Indonesian workers: Report

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia is likely to lift a ban on Indonesian workers in the
construction industry because a crackdown on illegal immigrants
has hit the sector hard, a report said on Tuesday.

A cabinet committee on foreign workers recommended the move
after appeals by property developers, who have warned that delays
in major projects could cost millions of dollars and house prices
could increase by up to 10 percent, The Star newspaper reported.

"The approval for the recruitment of Indonesian workers is
expected to be announced by the Home Ministry soon," the
newspaper quoted a source as saying ahead of a review of the
recommendation by the full cabinet Wednesday.

The scarcity of laborers is a result of harsh new immigration
laws which sent 300,000 illegal immigrants home in the past few
months and a government ban on hiring Indonesians in the
construction industry after two riots early this year.

Illegal Indonesian immigrants made up 70 percent of the
building industry's 500,000 foreign workers, according to the
vice president of the Master Builders Association of Malaysia,
Patrick Wong.

The association, which represents more than 450 companies in
the building industry, had submitted a request to the government
to allow employers to rehire Indonesian workers on a legal basis.

"We want the existing workers, because they have been trained.
If we get a new worker, even if he is from Indonesia, we will
have to spend several more months training and this will further
slow down the projects," said Wong.

Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn told AFP the government
was aware of the severe shortage of workers in the construction
industry and would resolve the problem in the "shortest possible
time.

"We will facilitate the intake of new foreign workers, shorten
the process of approval, and widen the source of intake to
include Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal and so on," he said.

Meanwhile rights groups and businesses increased the pressure
on the Malaysian government on Tuesday over new immigration laws
that Amnesty International has called "cruel" and construction
firms have said would cost the industry millions of dollars.

The two-pronged assault came as 13 illegal immigrants, mainly
from Indonesia, became the first to be sentenced to caning and
jail terms under the new legislation effective from Aug.1.

"Whipping someone with a cane is cruel, inhuman and degrading.
International standards make clear that such treatment
constitutes torture. Such a punishment should have no place in
today's world," Amnesty said in a statement.

Under the new immigration laws anyone found guilty of illegal
entry or harboring illegal immigrants will face a mandatory six
months in jail and possibly up to six strokes of the cane.

The first to be sentenced were two Bangladeshis and five
Indonesians, who last week received jail sentences ranging from
six months to two years, and between one and two strokes of the
cane each.

Six more Indonesians were sentenced on Monday to six strokes
of the cane each and jailed for eight months, The Star newspaper
reported.

The government says more than half an estimated 600,000
illegal workers went home under a fourth-month amnesty ahead of
the introduction of the new laws. However, Amnesty International
said it was concerned that "other undocumented workers and asylum
seekers are at risk of being whipped".