Malaysia Considers Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants
By Liz Gooch, New York Times
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is considering what could become its largest-ever program to legalize illegal immigrants.
There are estimated to be as many as two million illegal immigrants in this Southeast Asian country, which relies heavily on foreign labor.
The plan, which is expected to be discussed at a cabinet committee meeting Wednesday, is designed to help the government keep track of foreign workers in the country, which could improve national security, reduce human trafficking and increase tax revenues.
Economists say the effort to grant amnesty to illegal workers would also help make Malaysia more attractive to investors because it would increase the legal labor pool. Employers have long complained about labor shortages in Malaysia, a country of 28 million with an unemployment rate of 3 percent in March. Many Malaysian industries, including the plantation and construction sectors, depend heavily on workers from Indonesia, India and Myanmar. Malaysia has about two million legal foreign workers.
The home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, has said that the government is in the process of screening several private agencies to help the government register illegal workers.
“We are starting with the biometric system, as we can use thumbprints to register illegal immigrants,” The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, quoted him Tuesday as saying.
