He stressed that Malaysians should be “gracious hosts” to the migrants as they take up jobs that Malaysians are unwilling to do.

“Do not undermine the contribution of workers towards our economy.

“We need them, so let’s be gracious hosts to them. There are some jobs which are not taken up by Malaysians which will be picked up by these migrant workers,” he told a news conference.

Nazri stated that the workers were no different than any other citizen in search of employment and that insulting them was “un-Malaysian”.

He added that the 1.5 million figure was offered by the Bangladesh government and it did not mean that all of the 1.5 million would be brought in to Malaysia.

He said this in response to a claim by another non-governmental organisation, Pertubuhan Rapat Malaysia (Rapat), yesterday that the influx of foreign workers into the country was a major threat to national security and health.

Rapat also feared that these foreigners would promote terror activities.