Indian workers detained in Malaysia to return home

Kuala Lumpur, March 2 : Forty-three Indian nationals, who have been languishing in an immigration detention depot for nearly two months after they were cheated by their agent, will return home after their case was taken up by the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC).

The workers were cheated by their agent who did not renew their visas that expired last year. They also lost their last salaries paid by their employers.

Immigration Director General Mahmood Adam said that the 43 were in good health and that their employer had purchased flight tickets for them.

"They will be sent home in batches between Thursday and Saturday through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang."

He added that another eight Indian nationals, who were part of the group and who were not detained, were making a claim against their employer for unpaid salaries.

"They have been issued a special pass while waiting for their case to commence," The Star newspaper said.

MTUC secretary-general G. Rajasekaran Thursday said the 51 Indian nationals were duped by their Johor-based manpower outsourcing agency into working illegally for five months last year without wages.

They were also made to pay to the agency, supposedly repatriation fees, while in detention.

The Indians, aged between 23 and 35, had been hired in July 2005 as general workers for factories in Johor on a three-year contract.

On Jan 17, the workers took a bus from Johor to come here to seek help from the Indian High Commission but were rounded up by the police.