Malaysia minister says all illegal foreign workers to be deported

Malaysia has decided to deport all illegal foreign workers to their countries of origin before bringing approximately 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh. Malaysia's Miniter of Home Affairs Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidii has stated that his ministry, through the Immigration Department, police, RELA and other agencies, had intensified their cooperation to carry out joint enforcement to flush out foreign nationals working without valid documents in the peninsula, as well as in Sabah and Sarawak statres. “Before we bring in 1.5 million legal workers from Bangladesh, we will first take the illegal ones out, who now numbered around 2 million in the job market,” Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told a press conference after attending a programme – Inculcation of Good Values Programme with the ministry’s employees and staff in Putra Jaya. The Malaysian minister also announced that they would seek cooperation from the embassies of the countries involved. He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's effort to bring in the Bangladeshi workers was aimed at meeting the demands of employers in different sectors, including the plantation, construction, manufacturing and service sectors. "Therefore, the matter should not be politicised......it will not be an uncontrolled dumping of foreign workers because we will take out all illegal foreign workers first before bringing in those with complete documents. "There is no country in the world that allow foreign workers to work without valid documents or to stay longer than their visa validity," he observed. Last Thursday, Ahmad Zahid has said that approximately 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh would be brought to Malaysia in stages over three years to meet the demands of employers from various sectors, according to a news agency.