BANGLADESHIS make up the biggest portion of the total foreign workers in Malaysia, says Human Resources Minister Steven Sim.
He said the foreign workers in the country comprised 898,970 from Bangladesh, followed by Indonesia (582,108) and Nepal (370,127).
“As of Dec 31, 2024, 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).
“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 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 689 compound notices were issued following complaints against employers who violated labour laws.
He added that another 352 cases were taken to the courts.
“Regarding complaints, 9,991 complaints were received and out of that number, 9,726 cases have been resolved,” he said in another written reply 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.
