Malaysia: Caning for Illegals' Bosses 
International Herald Tribune
October 21, 1996
Michael Richardson

Malaysia will soon amend its laws to include caning and imprisonment for anyone employing illegal immigrants or helping to arrange their entry into the country.

The new penalties, which officials said Sunday would be approved by Parliament in the next few weeks, are intended to deter the large-scale smuggling of workers into Malaysia from other parts of Asia.

An economic boom in Malaysia has caused an acute labor shortage and pushed up wages. This attracts workers from countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines, where unemployment is high and wages are low.

Over the last few months, the alleged involvement of foreign workers in crime and their relations with local women have been reported almost daily in the Malaysian news media.

Jaafar Ismail, secretary of the National Security Council of Malaysia, said that under the proposed amendments to the Immigration Act, anyone who employed foreigners entering the country illegally or anyone who brought in foreign workers illegally could be caned, jailed for up to five years, and fined up to 30,000 ringgit ($12,000).

He said that foreign workers who had been deported but returned illegally to Malaysia would also be caned. Employers or individuals who hired illegal foreign workers could be fined up to 10,000 ringgit for each person in their pay, Mr. Jaafar said.

If a company was caught with more than five illegal foreign workers, he added, the responsible executive could face a mandatory jail term of at least six months.

Malaysia would become the second country in Southeast Asia, after Singapore, to impose caning for recruiting illegal foreign workers.

Some employers in Malaysia expressed alarm Sunday that the amendments were too vaguely worded, and could be used to punish senior executives who were unaware that foreign workers had been illegally recruited. They also warned that if the crackdown was successful, it would worsen Malaysia's labor shortage, driving wages up and forcing some companies to close.

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, however, supported the government's decision.

James Alfred, chairman of the federation's human resources committee, said that any employer who hired illegal workers knowingly should face stern action.

"If the government does not step in and take serious measures," he said, "social problems caused by these workers will continue to mount."

Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad said that the National Security Council, which he heads, had decided to take a tougher stand because of growing concern about the implications of having at least 1 million illegal workers in a total workforce of about 8 million.

"The existing laws are not enough," Mr. Mahathir said. "We want to be very severe."

Anwar Ibrahim, the deputy prime minister, said recently that there were 750,000 foreigners working legally in Malaysia. He said, however, that the government had stopped issuing permits allowing companies to import laborers.

If companies need foreign labor, Mr. Anwar added, they can recruit from among the thousands of illegal immigrants being held at detention centers before being deported.

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