39000 Indian tourists went missing in M'sia

From: Tanki <5191...@gmail.com>

Subject: 39,000 Indian tourists went missing in M'sia

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 39,046 Indian nationals had “gone missing” in
Malaysia after their tourist visas expired, Datuk Seri Najib Razak
said yesterday.
The prime minister said they had gone missing from the Immigration
Department’s records, according to an estimate drawn up in June.

That was why the department was not keen on visa-on-arrival for
Indians as the facility had been abused, especially by those from
Chennai, he said.

“Those who came to Malaysia through the visa-on-arrival (VOI) facility
could be back in India or among the people here, (maybe) working in
Indian restaurants.

“We don’t know where these people are. They’re probably still in
Malaysia for economic reasons,” he said in an interview with visiting
Indian journalists at his office here.

Najib said he might take up the issue during his three-day official
visit to India beginning on Tuesday.

He said Malaysia had allowed priests and barbers from India to come
and work in the country.

“We would like Indian people to visit Malaysia as tourists. We have
been quite liberal. We want genuine ones. They are most welcome.

“We are willing to consider reintroducing the VOI scheme for people
coming from Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, but not from Chennai.The
problem of overstaying is only from those from Chennai.” Cases of
foreigners abusing the VOA have been a problem since it was
introduced.

Between September 2006 and September 2008, 75,645 of the 248,939
foreigners who were issued VOA misused their visas.

They were from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar,
Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Asked whether the government would hold any dialogue with the banned
Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), he said many people had realised
that the group had “really exaggerated and manipulated the situation”
of the ethnic Indian minority.

He said most Indians in the country wanted the government to be
sensitive to their needs and the government had been respons i ve .

“We have attended to a lot of the Indian problems and Hindraf has not
been an important force in Malaysian politics.” Asked about the move
by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to appoint a special
envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, he said any follow-up actionwould be
possible only if India and Pakistan were ag reeable.