Vietnam to Repatriate Illegal Workers from Malaysia; Deputy PM Khoan

The Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan November 9 asked the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to support the Vietnamese worker management organization in Malaysia in cooperating with the Vietnamese embassy in Malaysia to promptly bring home Vietnamese workers who are considered illegal immigrants in Malaysia in order to avoid any prosecution of those people by the foreign country.

The move came as Malaysia has announced that it will conduct raids to arrest and prosecute illegal immigrants in the near future and it considers foreigners illegal residents if their visas expire for even one day.

Mr. Khoan also asked the Ministry of Police to liaise with the embassy for replacing lost passports, enabling people to regularize their stay in the foreign country. The ministry has been requested to fulfil formalities by November 12 so that travel documents may be issued to return the illegal workers by November 15.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also urged to protect the legal interests of Vietnamese citizens there. It declared its disapproval of caning by rattan switch by Malaysian authorities of any illegal immigrants including Vietnamese labourers, Khoan said, adding that it is a human rights violation.

• Kim Phuong