PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: The Government has cancelled the work visas of some 55,000 Bangladeshis who have not used them, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said.

The levy paid by these workers to get the visas would be returned to them as it involved a substantial sum, he said.

According to him, it was usual for employers to get the approvals first and bring the workers in later.

This include the 55,147 Bangladeshis (not 70,000 as reported) whose visas were approved as far back as 2007 and were waiting to arrive in Malaysia.

?This group of workers will be affected by the current freeze and we have already decided to cancel past approvals for those coming here to work in sectors other than those approved,? he told a press conference after attending the ministry?s monthly gathering yesterday.

He added that foreign workers were allowed under a few categories such as plantation workers, domestic help and factory workers for the glove-making industry.

He was commenting on a statement by Bangladesh High Commission labour counsellor Talat Mahmud Khan on Sunday that more than 70,000 Bangladeshi workers were expected to arrive here soon to work in the plantation, construction and services sectors.

Syed Hamid said the Immigration Department would meet officials from the High Commission to explain the Malaysian government?s stand on the freeze.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said he felt it was not right for the attache to make such a statement at this time of the gloomy global economy.