Pakistani workers arrive in Malaysia

Pakistani workers arrive in Malaysia

MALAYSIA: More than 1,000 Pakistani workers have arrived in Malaysia as the first batch of an estimated 100,000 Pakistanis scheduled to stream into the country to fill a labor shortage caused by the departure and expulsion of Indonesian workers, a news report said on Wednesday.

The New Straits Times daily said 1,100 Pakistanis have started working in the manufacturing sector and the rest will take up jobs in stages.

Malaysia is heavily reliant on foreign labor for doing menial jobs, and is facing a dire shortage of some 400,000 workers since it expelled illegal workers, mostly Indonesians, earlier this year. Many also left voluntarily under an amnesty.

Many were supposed to return after getting proper documentation in Indonesia, but have been held up by bureaucratic problems.

Besides Pakistan, Malaysia also is hoping to source labor from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Vietnam to meet the shortfall in industries such as manufacturing, construction and plantations.

The Times quoted Malaysian Employers' Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan as saying the oil plantations are losing 60 million to 70 million ringgit (US$15-18 million) a month because of labor shortage. --AP