BLEACHING OF TWO MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BEGIN JULY 1

KOTA BAHARU (Malaysia), June 9 (Bernama) -- The Home Ministry will initiate
a programme of bleaching or pardoning for almost two million illegal immigrants
in Malaysia starting July 1, said Deputy Home Minister Lee Chee Leong.

In this context, he said the recruitment of foreign workers during that
period will be temporarily frozen to ensure that the nationwide programme runs
smoothly.

"We are freezing all foreign worker applications for the programme which
begins on July 1. We have also shortlisted 200 private companies which will be
involved in managing the illegal immigrants," he told reporters after presenting
certificates of citizenship to 14 people, who applied to become Malaysian
citizens since last year, at Kopitiam Kita here Thursday.


He said the ministry's 6P amnesty programme was carried out by registering
illegal immigrants using a biometric system to track their movements in the
country.

The programme, he added, involved six action plans which are registering,
legalising, pardoning, monitoring, enforcing and deporting illegal
immigrants.


Lee said the objective of the bleaching exercise was to collect data on how
many illegal immigrants are in the country, how many work in sectors allowed to
recruit foreigners and to give illegal immigrants a chance to go home without
being prosecuted, as decided by the Cabinet.

He said the 200 companies interested in managing the registration of illegal
immigrants submitted application forms downloaded from the website
www.moha.gov.my.

Lee said only companies with experience in human resource management and
foreign workers will be selected, while orgnisations and associations will only
involve their employers and need to be registered with the Registrar of
Societies.

"There are 1.9 million foreigners working legally in the country, but our
information shows that the number of illegal immigrants is more than that with
about two million people in total," he added.