In a move which could affect Indians employed in Malaysia, the Government here is likely to send home at least two lakh foreign workers by next year to promote job opportunities for locals.

It follows the government’s denial of reports earlier this month which had claimed that it had placed a freeze on recruitment of Indian workers.

Malaysia, which relies heavily on labour from India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has over 20 lakh foreign workers with approvals for two lakh arrivals this year.

With the immediate effect, the Home Ministry has said it would not approve the work permit of any foreign worker who has been in this country for five years or longer.

By reducing the number of foreign workers in many of the industries, employers will be forced to hire local workers at “reasonable” salaries, the media here reported.

The government wants to reduce foreign workers to 18 lakh by next year and 15 lakh by 2015. “However, it faces a dilemma because it has approved applications from employers last year to bring in 200,000 foreign workers this year,” the Star newspaper said on Sunday.

“We are going to re-look at the policy of managing foreign workers in this country. We have a total of 2.3 million foreign workers, students and expatriates and short term workers from southern Thailand,” Home Affairs Ministry Secretary General Raja Azhar Raja Abdul Manap said.