EFFORTS ONGOING TO PERSUADE OVERSTAYING M`SIANS TO RETURN FROM BRITAIN

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian High Commission in London
is persuading an estimated 30,000 overstaying Malaysians in Britain to return
home before the British government gets tough on illegal immigrants next year,
according to a foreign ministry official.

The mission was providing information and guidance as part of an ongoing
effort to facilitate the return of the Malaysians, he told Bernama.

"They have overstayed and it is wrong. We just inform them of the
repercussions (if they continue to stay there)," he said.

In July, Britain gave Malaysia a six-month grace period before deciding
whether to impose a visa on Malaysians. The grace period was to gauge whether
there would be an increase in the number of overstayers and those who came on
social visas but got employed there.

The official said the foreign ministry and the British authorities were
discussing the best way to keep track of the number of overstaying Malaysians
who had returned home.


The British government has introduced a voluntary repatriation programme
under which overstayers, including Malaysians, can be assisted in returning home
by being given a one-way ticket to their respective countries. The overstayers
or illegal immigrants will, however, be blacklisted and be barred from entering
Britain for five years.

The foreign ministry official said discussions were also going on between
the relevant authorities on how best to prevent the overstaying problem in the
future.

Currently, Malaysian visitors to Britain enjoy six months visa-free travel.
Only those who plan to stay for longer than six months, to work or to study,
require visas.

Last month, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar was reported as
saying that about 271,000 Malaysians entered Britain each year.

The immigration attaché at Malaysia's High Commission in London, Zahari
Abdul Aziz, was reported as saying that those who returned to Malaysia after
having overstayed in Britain would not be able to apply for a new passport for
two years except for medical or exceptional reasons, for which they could appeal
to the Immigration authorities.


Meanwhile, MCA Public Services and Complaints Department Head Michael
Chong told Bernama he had received many phone calls, even in the middle of the
night, from those believed to be among the 30,000 overstaying
Malaysians.

He said many of them were willing to return but were holding back
because
of the two-year "ban" on getting a new passport.

Chong said most of them had gone to Britain to earn a decent living and
they were favoured for being hardworking and able to speak well, and that some
among them had married and had families there.

"I am asking the government why they should take away their passports (the
right to have a passport for the two years). What I know is that there is no
such thing in other countries," he said, adding that if any of them were found
to have committed crime in Britain, then action should be taken against
them.

Chong said he would like to know from the British High Commission in
Malaysia how many of the 30,000 Malaysians had committed serious crimes, if any.

He also said that he would take up the passport issue with the Home
Ministry.

-- BERNAMA