39,000 INDIAN CITIZENS ARE MISSING IN MALAYSIA

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 39,046 Indian citizens are “missing” in Malaysia after their tourist visas expired, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The Prime Minister said they had gone missing from the Immigration Department’s records, according to a report drawn up in June last year.

• This, he said, was worrying for the country, “That is why the department is not keen on visas-on-arrival for Indians as the facility has been abused, especially by those from Chennai,” he said.
• He said this in an interview with visiting Indian journalists at his office here yesterday.
• The interview by the journalists was held ahead of Najib’s official visit to India beginning this Friday.
• Visa-on-arrival facility was introduced for Indian visitors in 2006 but was revoked in 2008.
• Najib said the Indian visitors who came to Malaysia using the visa-on-arrival facility could be back in India or were still “among people here ... maybe working in the Indian restaurants.”
• “We just do not know where these people are now. They could still be in Malaysia for economic reasons,” he said. He indicated that he might take up the issue when he visits India.
• Najib said Malaysia had been liberal in allowing priests and barbers from India to come to work in the country. “We would like Indians to visit Malaysia as tourists. We have been quite liberal. We want genuine ones. They are most welcome.”
• Najib said Malaysia was considering reintroducing the visa-on-arrival scheme for people coming from cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi but not those from Chennai.“The problem of overstaying only involves Chennai,” he said.

Source: mStar