Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
Rela, a uniformed task force which assists security officials in raids on illegal
immigrants, said it had caught the foreigners in a raid early Sunday at their
hostel south of Kuala Lumpur.
<p>"This is our biggest swoop so far. We were tipped off by members of the
public. The illegals are from Indonesia, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Nepal and
Cambodia," Selangor’s Rela director, Khairy Mohamad Alwee, was quoted as
telling the Star daily.</p>
<p>"We are compiling their particulars. Most of them do not have proper travel
documents. After this, we will send them to immigration depots all over the
country because the ones in Selangor are already overcrowded with illegal immigrants,"
he said.</p>
<p><b>Fresh plans</b></p>
<p>Malaysia in July announced fresh plans to arrest up to one million people in
its latest crackdown on illegal immigrants, although round-ups take place periodically.</p>
<p>Khairy said Rela had arrested 13,000 foreign workers in the Klang Valley area,
where Kuala Lumpur is located, since a crackdown earlier this year, and that
it was targeting 138,000 illegal immigrants, said the Bernama news agency.</p>
<p>Malaysia since 1992 has launched several operations against illegal workers,
most of whom come from impoverished parts of Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>But each one has led to a labour shortage followed by a new wave of illegal
immigration – a pattern which was apparent after a blitz last year.</p>
<p>Malaysia is one of the largest importers of foreign labour in Asia. Foreign
workers, both legal and illegal, number around 2.6 million of its 10.5 million
workforce, officials say.- AFP
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