KUALA LUMPUR: There are currently 1,781,598 foreign workers in the country as of 30 June 2017, says the Home Ministry.
This was in response to Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) who had asked the ministry to provide a breakdown of foreign workers based on their countries of origin.
“The Rehiring Programme was implemented online from Feb 15 to Dec 31, 2017 for illegal immigrants from 15 source countries.
“This programme aims to give opportunities to illegal immigrants working in Malaysia to be given legal working permits and enter the permitted sectors,” the ministry replied in a statement.
They ministry also provided the breakdown in the number of foreign workers currently in the country, with the majority hailing from Indonesia with 728,870 workers.
Nepal currently has 405,898 workers, Bangladesh with 221,089 workers, Myanmar with 127, 705 workers and India with 114, 455 workers.
Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam and China have 59,281, 56,153, 29,039 and 15,399 workers in Malaysia, respectively.
Thailand on the other hand, has 12,603 workers in the country while Sri Lanka has 5,964, Cambodia has 5,103 and Laos has 39 workers.