Cabinet committee on tourism has ruled that the main Kuala Lumpur international airport and other key hubs in the country must only hire Malaysian workers, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.

“We will issue rulings to (airport operator) Malaysia Airports to ensure that the workers are Malaysian citizens,” he said in the report, adding that airports need to comply with the ruling as soon as possible. An aide to Najib confirmed his comments. About 140,000 Indians from India work in Malaysia, constituting the third largest foreign work force. Most work in low-paying jobs as waiters, barbers and gardeners. however, some hold top professional posts in banks and information technology industries.

The ban did not specify whether professionals were also included, but the order is believed to cover all categories of workers from India, the Home Ministry official said. He said the three categories of Hindu temple workers were singled out in the order because some of them were believed to have fanned emotional anger in the local Indian community through their sermons and support.

About 20,000 ethnic Indians, most of whom are Hindus, demonstrated on the streets on November 25 in a rare and open challenge to the government. Subsequently, the government jailed the top five leaders of the group that organised the protest, the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf. Hindraf angered the Malaysian government when its chairman fled the country after the November 25 protest and lobbied for support among Indian politicians. India has said the unrest is Malaysia’ affair, but has also said it is concerned about the welfare of all ethnic Indians in the world.

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