About 3,829 Nepali migrant workers taken benefit from Malaysian amnesty announced August last year. According to Home Affairs Ministry of the destination, a total of 73,637 illegal migrant workers from over a dozen countries benefited from the state pardon.

Malaysian government’s Illegal Immigrant Comprehensive Settlement Programme (6P) has reported 128,373 illegal migrant workers and 33,000 of them were Nepalis. Among them 3,829 Nepalis returned to the home country, official agency Bernama reported. More than 15,000 Nepali workers gets sponsors/job providers and become legal migrant through the 6P process. They were mostly run away and overstay workers.

Of 73,637 illegal migrant workers benefited from the amnesty, 49,642 Indonesians, followed by Indians (5,401), Myanmar nationals (3,167), Cambodians (2,684), Nepalese (3,829), Filipinoes (1,244), Bangladeshis (2,663), Vietnamese (1,443), Sri Lankans (908), Pakistanis (1,601) and Chinese (584).

Malaysian government amnesty plan has offered two options– find jobs and become legal worker or leave the country– and two third of migrant workers had succeeded to get jobs in the country.

Amnesty to illegal migrant workers is a part of comprehensive migrant worker management programme. The programme has features like census of migrant workers at work place, building biometric identification system and setting limits of number of migrant workers according to their nationality.

About 400,000 Nepalis are believed working in the East Asian destination. According to Department of Foreign Employment, the destination hired 41,075 Nepalisin last five months and 7,414 joined Malaysian job in Mangsir (midNovember to mid-December).

It was top hiring country from 2009 to mid-March 2011.

Published on: 15 January 2012 | The Himalayan Times