In a bid to check the influx of illegal foreign workers, Malaysia will soon issue new biometric identity cards to nearly 2.3 million foreigners in the country.
Malaysia relies heavily on foreign workers to support its tourism and infrastructure industry. There are 2.25 million documented foreign workers in the country right now. Labourers from countries like India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Cambodia also works in its rubber and palm plantations.
Officials said the new ID cards, embedded with high-tech chips, would ensure only legal foreign workers were in the country. The cards were originally planned to be introduced late last year.
The cards will store identification documents of the holder and could be examined easily by the security personnel. The cards will come in different colours to indicate various sectors of employment, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
The "i-Kad" will have barcodes that will allow enforcement officers to scan them using a smartphone to assess the workers' details, he added.
"These security elements are important to prevent fraud and forgery of the card. It will strengthen our enforcement. We hope that by the end of this year, all foreign workers will have this card," he said.
Authorities believe hundreds of thousands of foreigners, mostly from neighbouring Indonesia, are working illegally in Malaysia.
