THE Home Ministry hopes to repatriate foreign prisoners to reduce overcrowding in jails.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said the ministry planned to propose to the government a programme to transfer these prisoners back to their countries.

To tackle overcrowding, the Prisons Department has drawn up several measures.

This include adoption of the parole system and building new prisons.

Chor, who was replying to a question by Datuk Shahrum Osman (BN-Lipis), said the department was also examining alternative punishment and detention methods, such as home detention and suspended sentences.