Speaking to FMT, Azrul Akmal Saharudin of Perkasa said Malaysian and international companies in the country should give priority to local graduates. “If they continue to be jobless, it could lead them to riot. It would directly disrupt peace and unity,” he said.

Azrul, who heads Perkasa’s unit on integrity, corruption and abuse of power, said government statistics showed that there were 62,110 Bangladeshis, comprising 37 percent of expatriate workers, employed in Malaysia. Others are from India, China, the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

He said the report also said that 150,000 local graduates are jobless.

Malaysian labour laws set a minimum monthly salary of RM5,000 for expatriate staff, and RM1,200 for blue-collar workers. Most of the expatriates were employed in services, construction and information technology.

Azrul said the government has to make sure the situation does not get out of hand with more expatriates being employed in local companies.

“We are not facing labour shortage especially among local graduates. They should be given job opportunities. We are not asking employers to pay them so high but at least give them jobs,” he said.

However, he believes employers who employ expatriates might have their own reasons for doing so and feels the RM5,000 minimum salary could be manipulated as the cost of living in Malaysia is high. “After their employers deduct their salary, their take home pay could only be RM3,000 a month.”