Call to allow Malay-Indian workers staying abroad to return to country within 30 days

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 10 (ANI): The Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Maicci) has reportedly proposed that foreign workers of Indian origin should be allowed to return and work in the country within 30 days.

The Star quoted President K.K. Eswaran as saying that the chamber had made the proposal to the Home Ministry.

"We have to find ways to resolve this problem as foreign labour is a major issue affecting the business sector," he said after announcing the appointment of office bearers of the newly set-up Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Indian Chambers of Commerce (KLPICC) at its first annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

In June last year, Eswaran had reportedly asked foreign workers, who had completed five years of continuous service, to leave the country for three months before they could return.Meanwhile, he has said about 2,400 Indian foreign workers who had left Malaysian that time have also registered with various associations affiliated to the chamber.

Maicci would meet with Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam to discuss the matter, adding that it "hoped to come up with something positive by mid-January," he added.

Home Ministry Secretary General Mah­mood Adam has said that issues relating to illegal foreign workers would be discussed at a Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers meeting on January 25. (ANI)