North Korean workers are allowed to work in the country so long as they own legal working permits and are not spreading their “ideologies”, said Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuaku Jaafar.
The workers who worked in the Sarawakian coal mines were brought into the country through a special arrangement with the Sarawak and North Korean governments, according to a news report from English daily The Star.
“There are many people from communist countries working in our country and having businesses here.
“All we require is that they come here legally, work legally and stay free of trouble with our laws,” Wan Junaidi said, commenting on the large number of North Koreans at coal mines yesterday.
He added that the government has no issues with nationalities with “different ideologies” working here as long as they don’t spread them.
Wan Junaidi, who is also Santubong MP, said that “the state government has autonomy on immigration and labour matters”, pointing out that it was Sarawak’s right to hire the North Koreans.
He added that the workers are only allowed to work in East Malaysia, and so far no records of crime involving the North Koreans were ever recorded here.
“Only Sarawak has North Korean workers. This is not (allowed) in the peninsula,” he stated, adding that the entry of these workers were handled by the Malaysian Immigration Department and that their work permits were issued by the Sarawak Labour Department.
Two days ago, there was an explosion in a 69-metre tunnel in a coal mine in Selantik, Pantu near Sri Aman (about 130km from Kuching). This was due to sparks from a faulty fan which caused a short circuit that ignited gas in the tunnel.
The three people killed in the 9am incident were identified as a North Korean man, Pang Chung Hyok, Tun Tun Win from Myanmar and a 38-year-old Indonesian worker, Kardianto.
Commenting on dangerous industries such as coal mines, Wan Junaidi also said that local are hesitant to take on perilous job, hence the government outsourcing the jobs to foreigners.
“No local or Sarawakian will take up such jobs; that is why there is a need for foreign workers. In the coal-mining sector, only Britain, China and North Korea have highly-skilled workers,” he said.
The 26 victims who were injured in the blast are being treated at Sarawak’s General Hospital.
The mine currently has 119 workers - 46 North Koreans, 29 from Myanmar, 19 Indonesians, 15 from China and 10 from Bangladesh.
-Malaysiakini-
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