By : N.L., Ipoh
I'VE read many reports about illegal foreign workers in Malaysia. One of the causes of this problem is the "free and easy" passage in and out of this country.
My Indonesian maid's brother and friends entered Malaysia as tourists and stayed with friends in a kongsi in Bukit Mertajam and Tambun. They go back to Indonesia via Dumai port every three months and return to work shortly after as construction workers or in the night markets.
Another friend of the maid ran away from her employer and stayed in a kongsi with friends who work as construction workers.
Is there any solution to this problem?
Perhaps locating employers with a history of hiring illegal workers and warning them not to do so any more?
But what if their illegal workers' passports show they are tourists?
