The government of Malaysia has taken a U-turn on its decision to impose ban on the recruitment of workers from India and Bangladesh and rejected reports regarding any such move. The country has cleared doubts over the working visas to Indian workers and professionals.

Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said during the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas function that the Malaysian government has emphatically denied any move to ban Indian workers and the government of India has accepted their denial.

However, Dr N. Raja Ram, a senator in the Malaysian Parliament, said that the government has made a plan to monitor Indian professional arrivals and their stay period in Malaysia.

He claimed that this step is necessary to protect the interest of unskilled workers and to restrict illegal entrants smuggled into the country by recruiting agencies. He further said that there was no plan to ban recruitment of Indian professionals.

According to Malaysian law, if a person stays in the country for more than six years he can claim citizenship rights.

Union Ministers A.K. Antony and Vayalar Ravi said after an interaction with senior Malaysian Ministers that the issue of better working conditions for migrant workers came up for discussion but no one raised the issue of ban on recruitment of workers from India.

Later, Ravi said while speaking at the Pravasi Divas, that the Indian High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur has confirmed that the reports regarding the ban on Indian workers was baseless However, he admitted instances of some Indians misusing the visa scheme by over-staying in Malaysia.