Malaysian employers want Indonesian workers back

Malaysian employers want Indonesian workers back

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian employers have urged the government to relax a recent
clampdown on Indonesian migrant labor sparked by workers rioting,
a report said Saturday.

The move to restrict Indonesians to plantation or household
work will disrupt manpower planning and corporate operations,
Malaysian Employers' Federation president Jaafar Carrim was
quoted as saying by The Star.

"There is no guarantee that those from other countries will
not create any social problems. We hope the government would give
employers more flexibility in recruiting cost-effective workers,"
he said.

Jaafar said Indonesians were more suitable because of the
culture, language and working environment shared by the two
countries.

"Problems of communication and the lack of skills are
anticipated with the recruitment of non-Indonesian foreign
workers," he added.

The government early this month imposed the clampdown on
Indonesian workers following a riot by 400 Indonesian textile
workers at their factory over police drug tests on co-workers on
Jan. 17.

Three days later more than 70 Indonesian construction workers
armed with machetes went on a rampage at Cyberjaya, a hi-tech
suburb south of Kuala Lumpur.

The government said it would only hire Indonesians as maids
and plantation workers and take workers from Thailand, Cambodia,
Nepal, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and India to fill positions
in other sectors.

Indonesians were previously employed in almost all sectors.
Home ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat last month said
Indonesians made up 566,983 out of a total of 769,566 legal
foreign workers in the country.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda is to head a
delegation to Kuala Lumpur next week for a meeting expected to
address the workers' issue, officials said.