Malaysia to collect biometrics to verify identity of foreign workers

In an effort to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the country, Malaysia’s Immigration Director-General said this week that only foreign workers with fingerprints recorded under the biometric system can go through health screening before getting employment.

According to a report in Malay Mail Online Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali told reporters that there has been cases of foreign workers using other individuals for health screening purposes and, although “the number of cases is small … we do not want to compromise in this matter as we only want healthy workers employed in our country.”

407,870 foreign workers underwent health screening within the first six months of this year and 10,618 or 2.6 per cent of them failed the test with the majority involving cases of tuberculosis, hepatitis B and sexually transmitted diseases.

Those who fail the screening will be repatriated to their respective countries.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  identity verification  |  Malaysia