Malaysia freezes recruitment of all foreign workers

KUALA LUMPUR

More than six months after Malaysia announced plans to bring in 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh to meet employer demand, local protests have led to the government freezing the entrance of all foreign workers.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Friday that the freeze was to push more Malaysians to take up employment opportunities in sectors slated for foreign workers.

"The government has decided to suspend the intake of foreign workers from providing countries... and to urge employers to hire local workers,” he said.

Approval will only be given after the placement of locals, Hamidi, who is also Home Minister, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

He added that the moratorium would also remain in effect until the federal government completes a comprehensive study about the actual manpower requirements in the various sectors.

The government will also shift its focus to re-skilling the local workforce to meet existing demands.

On Thursday, Malaysian Human Resources Minister Richard Riot Anak Jaem was reported to have been in the Bangladeshi capital Khaka to sign a memorandum of understanding with Bangladesh Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam that would allow the workers to enter over a three year period.

“We welcome the agreement. If the agreement is implemented through close monitoring, at least 1 million Bangladeshi workers would get jobs in the Malaysian plantation, agriculture and manufacturing sectors,” Abul Bashar, president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies, told BenarNews.

In Malaysia, however, several civil and trade groups immediately raised complaint, urging the government to prioritize employment for locals rather than tailoring it for foreigners.

“The MTUC [Malaysian Trades Union Congress] feels if the government is serious about achieving high-income status for Malaysia, it should limit the intake of foreign workers,” Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency quoted the MTUC as saying.

“The country does not have to rely on labor resources from foreign countries. This situation will certainly harm the economy and have an adverse impact on the local population."

Official records show that up to December last year, the number of documented foreign workers in Malaysia was 2.135 million.

The government also estimates that for every 10 foreign workers, there are eight illegals, or some 1.7 million.

The majority of the Malaysian foreign workforce is from Indonesia, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, however many impoverished Bangladeshis utilize people smugglers to transport them across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea to the economic promise of Malaysia.

The 2015 Asian boat people crisis was sparked by a Thai government crackdown on such trafficking and led to a naval blockade on smugglers’ vessels.

Many of those on board the boats were Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar fleeing persecution that many human rights groups consider to be state sponsored.