The Immigration Department of Malaysia has warned foreign workers not to abuse their working permits, The Malay Mail of Kuala Lampur reports.  The stern warning was issued by Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamad last week after his officers discovered after a crackdown that many foreign workers had not followed the terms of their permits.

During a recent crackdown at Pudu market, department officers rounded up 130 foreigners, including 15 women, for committing various offences such as possessing false travel documents and overstaying.  Checks revealed that some of the illegal immigrants were running businesses at the market illegally.

"According to their working permits, they were in the country to work in specific fields. But they were found running stalls at the market," said Ishak.  "We are still investigating what their employers have been doing. We may charge them in court,' he added.

All the foreigners who were detained, aged between 20 and 40 years, would be sent to the Semenyih Immigration depot.   Ishak said that even if the workers had entered the country legally, they would be considered illegal immigrants once they abused their working permits.  

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Plans to fingerprint passengers at the UK ’s Heathrow's Airport been challenged by a UK 's data protection watchdog group, according to The Scotsman of UK .   The Information Commissioner' s Office has warned airport operator British Airports Authority (BAA) that the security measure may breach the country’s Data Protection Act.

The fingerprinting plan will affect all domestic passengers using a special airport terminal, officially opened by Queen Elizabeth earlier this month, as well as international passengers transferring onto internal flights.   Prints will be taken when passengers first go through security, and then checked at the gate, ensuring that the individual boarding the plane is the same person who first checked in. Without a security measure of this type, it might be possible for a terrorist to arrive at Heathrow on a transit flight, then exchange boarding passes with a colleague in the departure lounge and join a domestic flight to enter the UK without being checked by immigration authorities.

The Information Commissioners' Office has raised concerns over why BAA wants to use fingerprinting at Heathrow, when other UK airports like Gatwick and Manchester rely on photographs to ensure security at their common departure lounges.   In a statement, BAA said: "When BAA announced plans for common departure lounges, the Border and Immigration Agency was keen on a reliable biometric element to border control. Fingerprinting was selected as the most robust method by BAA, the BIA and other Government departments.

'The data is encrypted immediately and is destroyed within 24 hours of use, in accordance with the Data Protection Act. It does not include personal details nor is it cross-referenced with any other database."

The Home Office said that BAA was required to ensure that arrangements at Terminal 5 did not breach border security, but that there was no requirement for this to involve fingerprinting.  "Our concern is that the UK border is secure and we won't allow BAA to have a common departure lounge unless they ensure the border is secure," said a spokesman.  "They presented us with this plan, which we are happy secures the border. The design of the plan is a matter for BAA."