KUALA LUMPUR ~ Malaysia is hunting down more than 20,000 foreign nationals who have entered the country as tourists before staying on to find jobs illegally, reports said.

The visa-on-arrival scheme was introduced last year ahead of a major campaign aimed at boosting overseas visitor numbers but Home Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said it is being abused.

“We simplified the entry process for foreign tourists … but some people had abused the visa to stay in the country longer than the duration allowed,” Radzi was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.