KATHMNADU: Malaysia will start a cleansing campaign against illegal migrant workers from February 15. The campaign will target

to punish employers who are harbouring illegal foreign workers, the online edition of The Star reported.

The Immigration Department (ID) is planning to use police and Rela — voluntary force of nationalists — to clear out illegal workers. About 1.8 million approved overseas workers in the country and the department believe there are at least an equal number of illegal ones. Employers violating the Immigration Act will be punished, said Immigration director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman. Workers from

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Hong Kong and Taiwan are living illegally there.

Malaysia is a favoured destination of Nepalese workers

and around 3,00,000 Nepalese are working there. Nepalese blue-collar workers in

Malaysia earn Rs 12,000 per month and it has significant contribution to Nepal’s remittance base economy.

According to Malyasia’s ID, 75,645 out of 248,939 foreigners who entered Malaysia between September 2006 and September 2008 are in illegal status. Around 39,000 Indians who entered Malaysia as tourists in that period are working there illegally. Malaysia has the highest number of illegal migrant workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Thousands of Nepalese are working there illegally but it is difficult to furnish any

figure. Of 20,000 Nepalese security guards working in Malaysia two-thirds are illegal, a report published last November claimed. It showed there were thousands of Nepalese working in Malaysia in construction, manufacturing and service sectors.

Malaysian employers believe there are illegal workers in large numbers. “Some companies are hiring and harbouring workers illegally,” said Samsudin Baradan, executive director of Malaysian Employers’ Federation. “We don’t know the exact number,” he added.