The government will ensure that the import of labour from Bangladesh will not affect job opportunities for locals, the Malaysian Home Ministry said on Wednesday.

‘The ministry said labour market equilibrium would not be affected by the move as they would only be allowed to work in five formal sectors, namely construction, manufacturing, farming, agriculture, and services’, reported the Malaysian Insider.

‘The proposal to bring in 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh was made after taking into consideration the development of the national economy and the needs of the respective industries to fill positions not popular with locals.

‘However, the government will also be cautious in this matter, so that job opportunities for locals are not affected, and always remain protected,’ the ministry said in a written reply to a question from Sim Tze Tzin (PKR-Bayan Baru), which was circulated in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.’

‘Sim wanted to know the rationale behind the government’s proposal to allow 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh to work in the country.

Replying to a question from Datuk Mohd Idris Jusi (PKR-Batu Pahat), who wanted to know if the move would lead to social problems, the ministry said the government was aware of this challenging issue.’

‘However, it was necessary to fill positions not popular with the local people, mainly those which were considered dirty, dangerous and difficult to help the government improve the sustainability of the national economy.’

‘Therefore, the ministry said among the measures taken to minimise the problems were to limit these workers to the five sectors mentioned above, recruiting foreign labour based on the real needs of industry, and imposing health screenings for the first three years.’