Malaysia has announced that illegalforeign workers staying in the country for over a decade will facerepatriation or arrest, reported a local online newspaper on Jan. 30.

According to the Daily Star, the decision came as Malaysian governmentis moving for more stringent visa renewal process and a crackdown onillegal foreigners.

At present, there are tens of thousands of foreigners who have beenworking in Malaysia for up to 13 years. Thousands of these people wentto Malaysia legally but have no valid work permits due to theiremployers' fraudulent deals.

Home Minister Hishamuddin was cited as saying that those whose permitshave expired can participate in the voluntary repatriation programme,where they only need to pay a minimal amount for returning home. Thedeadline for this offer is May 16.

The newswire said that Malaysian employers will be monitored to makesure that their foreign workers leave the country at the moment theircontracts expire and the visas of those who have been staying inMalaysia for 13 years will not be extended anymore.

However, Vice President of Malaysian Trades Union Congress A.Balasubramaniam said employers were taking advantage of the workers'illegal status and exploiting them in various ways.

“We demanded that the Malaysian government grants these workersabsolution so that they can go home or legalise their status,” he wasquoted as saying.

Forced expatriation of foreign nationals who have been working inMalaysia for long is also seen as causing a great loss because “theyare doing good business or working as skilled workers.” Observersmeanwhile said Malaysia should address the issue diplomatically./.