PETALING JAYA: Bangladeshis are the largest group of foreign workers in Malaysia, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said that the total foreign workers in the country comprised 898,970 Bangladeshi, followed by 582,108 Indonesian and 370,127 Nepali workers.
“As of Dec 31, the total working population amounted to 16,779,500 people.
“Of this number, 2,368,422 people or 14% are foreign workers,” he said in a written reply to Jamaludin Yahya (PN-Pasir Salak) who had asked the ministry to state the total number of foreign workers in Malaysia.
Despite the total number, Sim said that foreign workers are still within the 15% limit of the workforce.
“This percentage shows that the presence of foreign workers in the country is under control, as it is still below the government-set ceiling that foreign workers do not exceed 15% of the country's total working population.
“Since March 18, 2023, the government has decided to freeze the quota for the intake of new foreign workers until a date that will be announced later,” he added.
Separately, Sim said a total of 689 compound notices were issued following complaints against employers who violated labour laws.
He added that another 352 cases have been taken to court.
“To address issues of wage denial and labour exploitation involving registered foreign workers, the Peninsular Malaysia Labour Department has taken strict measures by conducting regular inspections on employers, investigating received complaints, and conducting enforcement operations regularly.
“Throughout 2024, a total of 21,573 inspections were carried out on employers across Peninsular Malaysia. From these inspections, 3,788 compliance notices were issued and adhered to by employers.
“Regarding complaint cases, 9,991 complaints were received and out of that number, 9,726 cases have been resolved,” he said in another written reply responding to William Leong (PH-Selayang).
Leong had asked the ministry to state the measures taken to improve enforcement against exploitation of labour among foreign workers.
Sim said a total of 502 enforcement operations had been held which also involved 61 other agencies under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Atipsom) to combat trafficking activities, particularly forced labour, through the Special Enforcement Teams.
