Malaysia Delays Immigrant Crackdown

February 2005 | Risk Summary

Malaysia has indefinitely delayed a crackdown on illegal immigrants after officials in neighbouring Indonesia said they were unprepared for a mass repatriation of newly unemployed people. With a shortage of unskilled workers in Malaysia, an estimated 800,000 foreign nationals have been drawn from poorer Asian countries to work illegally in lowly paid jobs, but rising crime levels, growth of shanty settlements and resentment of wage repatriation have all increased public pressure on the government to act. With the amnesty only extended while Jakarta focuses on tsunami-rehabilitation, there will be increasing calls for the Association of South-East Asian Nations to draw

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