Police arrest 66 workers after clashes

Police arrest 66 workers after clashes

MALAYSIA: Malaysian police have arrested 66 people from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam after fighting among rival immigrant workers, officials said on Wednesday.

It was the third major brawl in two years involving foreign workers.

At least six people were injured in the clashes late on Monday and early on Tuesday at two textile factories in Negeri Sembilan state, a police official said.

Witnesses said a fight in Nilai town erupted as Vietnamese workers pelted Indonesians with stones and bottles. The reason for the conflict was not immediately clear.

In the other incident, a clash broke out in Senawang town after an argument between workers from Nepal and Bangladesh.

Malaysia's saw an influx of foreign workers, particularly for low-paid jobs, during the 1990s when its economy boomed. There are now about two million foreign workers in Malaysia -- or about 20 percent of its workforce.

But there has been slower growth in recent years and authorities have been cracking down on illegal workers who have been blamed for rising crime. -- Reuters