MALAYSIA

Crackdown on Illegal Immigrants Proposed: Employers who hire illegal foreign workers would be subject to up to five years in prison and fines of up to $19,600 under proposed legislation, the New Straits Times said. Deputy Human Resouces Minister M. Mahalingam said the bill would probably go to Parliament next year. With unemployment expected to decline to 2.8% next year, Malaysia is facing a labor shortage, and hundreds of thousands of foreigners are working in the country, legally and illegally. Foreign workers now account for 70% of plantation workers and 45% of construction workers, the Human Resources Ministry says.