KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Putrajaya revealed today that 10 to 15 per cent of the crimes in Malaysia are committed by foreign workers, despite the perception that they are behind most crimes in the country.

In a reply to Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun in Parliment, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said most crimes are committed by the locals.

“I want to state that crimes by foreign workers is only about 10 to 15 per cent, which means don’t blame on the foreign workers completely.

“Those criminals, a majority of them are locals,” he said.

However, Home Affairs Deputy Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had previously said that only 1 per cent of crimes in Malaysia are committed by foreigners.

On July 9, he told the Parliament that the remaining 99 per cent of crimes reported, were committed by locals.

Today, Ahmad Zahid stressed that there is still a need to reduce the country’s dependency on foreign workers and that the workforce in Malaysia should take up job opportunities here and not look down on blue collar jobs.

“We have taken various steps such as the job clearing system along with Human Resources Ministry in the peninsula and with all the relevant ministries involved in employing foreign workers, especially for the service and manufacturing sectors, that locals are given priority and agencies in every sector to ensure that the limit for foreign workers is adhered to, we also have an age limit in place for foreign workers, which is from the ages of 18 and 45.

“We have to have a long-term plan to be debated in this Dewan with all agencies and private sector so that they can prioritise the locals,” the former defence minister said.