KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 ― Nepali nationals are the only foreigners allowed to work as security guards in Malaysia, the Home Ministry said to deny reports purporting that 150,000 Pakistanis will be recruited for the sector here.

The ministry also said it encouraged security firms to prioritise hiring Malaysians, and pointed out that 80 per cent of the country’s 120,767 certified security guards trained since 2014 were locals.

"The Home Ministry wishes to emphasise that currently only Nepali security guards may be employed by security firms licensed by the ministry,” it said in a statement.

The issue stems from a report in Pakistani news outlet The Nation earlier this month, which quoted Pakistan High Commissioner to Malaysia Amna Baloch as saying the two countries were in negotiations to send up to 150,000 Pakistanis here for security work.

The report was picked up by local news outlets and elicited criticism from groups such as the Malaysian Employers Federation.

Aside from the Home Ministry’s response today, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran also said yesterday that he had no idea about the purported negotiations.