(Bernama) - A total of 2,040,709 foreign workers and illegal immigrants have been registered under the 6P programme as at 8am Thursday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said.
He said of the total, 936,732 were legal workers while 1,103,977 were illegal immigrants.
"It is an unexpected number in the context of registration because after this, we still have to carry out the process of legalisation, amnesty, supervision and enforcement.
"So, I would like to call on those who have yet to register to do so as soon as possible," he told reporters after breaking fast with the Home Ministry's staff here last night.
He also refuted the allegation that those who had registered would be deported to their countries of origin and described the allegation as an attempt to sabotage the 6P programme.
"Some people accused that there is a problem with the biometric registration system...it is indeed a baseless allegation because if there's a problem, the number of people registered would not reach two million," he said.
Hishammuddin said registered illegal immigrants from Indonesia made up the highest number at 551,268, followed by Bangladesh with 241,538.
"This means that the cooperation we have with the Indonesian and the Bangladesh governments had succeeded and I would like to thank the representatives of the two governments and ensure that we will continue to work closely with them," he said.
The minister said the biometric registration process had to be carried out as the government did not know the exact number of foreigners in the country.
"The two million people are legal workers and illegal immigrants who have registered voluntarily before we carry out the legalisation and enforcement processes and it is possible that the number will increase," he said.
Earlier, Hishammuddin also gave away hampers and "duit raya" (cash) to orphans in Klang Valley.
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