Ram Chandra Giri

The government of Malaysia since August has granted amnesty to more than 2,700 Nepali workers who were staying in the country illegally.

A Malaysian daily, The Star, reported that 2,766 undocumented Nepali migrant workers were saved from legal prosecution and allowed to return home ever since the workers’ amnesty programme was introduced.

According to the Kuala Lumpur-based Nepali Embassy, 33,000 Nepalis had submitted their details to the Malaysian government. Around 6,000 received permits to return home, while around 25,000 are looking forward to receiving a legal status. Based on these numbers, there are still over 2,000 Nepalis in Malaysia with their travel permits yet to board the plane home.

The newspaper reported that altogether 53,682 illegal workers from 11 countries have been granted amnesty and that they have returned to their respective homelands.

Malaysia’s neighbouring country, Indonesia, saw the highest number of illegal workers to receive amnesty, the daily stated, with the return of 35,142 undocumented Indonesian nationals after the pardon was issued.

Similarly, 4,039 Indians, 2,467 Myanmarese, 2,100 Bangladeshis, 1,900 Cambodians, 1,289 Vietnamese, 1,126 Pakistanis, 786 Sri Lankans and 493 Chinese also returned home under the programme.

Published on: 19 December 2011 | The Kathmandu Post