LONDON - Malaysia is in the top five countries whose citizens are consistently being denied entry into Britain.

If that is not bad enough, Malaysians are also among the top 10 nationalities who overstay and in the top 20 for overall immigration abuses.

Revealing these statistics, Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamad said most Malaysians who overstayed were from Johor, Perak, Penang and Selangor.

He said Malaysians had been in Britain's bad books over visa abuses, with about 1,500 of them refused entry last year.

Aziz said Malaysian passports were often abused by nationals from China, Sri Lanka and India to gain illegal entry into Britain.

'And Malaysians are frequently reported as acting as facilitators to arrange for other nationals to enter Britain,' he said when briefing the Malaysian community here on the proposed visa ruling for Malaysians travelling to Britain.

More than 80 representatives from Malaysian organisations, including the Overseas Malaysian Executives Club, Malaysian Chinese Society, Umno UK Club, MCA Club UK, MIC London Club and the Britain & Eire Council for Malaysian Students, attended the briefing on Wednesday.

Aziz said the Home Office's third and last stage of its visa-waiver test for Malaysia and 10 other countries was expected to run until January or February next year.

He said British authorities would probably decide around March whether Malaysia would fall under the visa regime.

On whether Malaysia would retaliate if Britain imposed the visa, the High Commissioner said it would have to weigh the situation in Malaysia's best interests.

He urged Malaysians who were unsure of their visa or stay in Britain to contact the High Commission, which would offer assistance.

International Organisation for Migration's (www.iomlondon.org) communications director (UK) Marek Effendowicz offered pointers about the agency's services for those whose visas had expired, were staying illegally in Britain or were asylum seekers.