Malaysia is considering recruiting undocumented foreign workers to meet the high labour demands, reports Malaysian newspaper The Staronline.
A special committee dealing with the issue of foreign workers is discussing the matter among other issues, reported the newspaper on July 16 quoting Malaysia's Human Resources Minister Datuk S Subramaniam as saying.
Such a statement comes as good news for Bangladesh, as some 50,000 to 60,000 Bangladeshi workers are believed to be living in Malaysia undocumented, said Bangladesh's Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan.
If implemented, the decision will be beneficial to both the parties--the Malaysian employers can get workers easily, while the irregular Bangladeshis facing problems would get documents and employed, he said.
According to Subramaniam, Malaysia's human resources ministry was also discussing ways to address problems of abuse of foreign workers, especially domestic maids.
"The ministry is faced with two major problems in dealing with illegal immigrants in the country, namely the existence of illegal workers and the high demand for workers by employers.
"Because of the high demand, illegal immigrants continue to enter the country. We are looking for a suitable mechanism to deal with this effectively," he told a media conference at the launch of Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology's Academy of Creativity and Innovation in Cyberjaya, about 50km south of Kuala Lumpur.
Expatriates' welfare secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan said Bangladesh has been making diplomatic efforts for opening the Malaysian labour market for Bangladeshi workers.
It is surely a good sign from Malaysia's part, he told The Daily Star yesterday, adding that the labour hiring countries often face such realities, but it is good that Malaysia is thinking to address the problems of undocumented workers.
Malaysia is home to around six lakh Bangladeshi workers but the country imposed a freeze on hiring workers from Bangladesh in March last year citing global economic recession.
However, businesses and officials concerned believe it was the irregularities in the labour recruitment process that prompted Malaysia to stop hiring.