Malaysia re-imposes ban on hiring of Bangladeshi

 In 1999, the government imposed a freeze on the hiring of Bangladesh workers, citing "social problems" created by the community, but lifted the ban in May last year.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet decided to reimpose the ban with immediate effect, said Malaysia's minister of home affairs Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

Radzi said local agents as well as their counterparts in Bangladesh were keen on bringing in as many workers into the country as possible, but once arriving in Malaysia, the foreign immigrants were not treated properly, prompting complaints.

He said the Kuala Lumpur International Airport has been housing thousands of stranded Bangladesh nationals waiting for their agents or employers to pick them up.

"If the workers arrive on days close to the weekend or long holidays, (employers) will conveniently not pick the workers up, knowing the workers are in safe hands, will be well taken care of and fed," Radzi was quoted as saying by the Star daily.

"Since there are too many problems arising from employing workers from Bangladesh, we have decided to freeze the exercise again," he said.

He said employers who had already applied to hire workers would still be able to bring in the Bangladesh nationals, but the freeze on new applications would be indefinite until the government could work on a solution to the problems.

Diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Bangladesh were recently strained following reports of harsh treatment and abuse of Bangladesh workers.

There are an estimated 200,000 Bangladeshi workers living in Malaysia.//DPA