PETALING JAYA, May 13 — Employers are bent on getting the freeze on foreign workers lifted and are trying to sabotage the government’s illegal workers’ rehiring programme, revealed a top official from the Home Ministry.
The ministry also clarified they have not lifted the ban for four sectors — construction, manufacturing, plantation and furniture — as they were still considering the implications of such actions.
“The rehiring programme has been slow as employers are lobbying for the ban (of bringing in foreign workers) to be lifted so that they can bring in new workers. They purposely don’t want our programme to succeed,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
The government froze intake of foreign labourers in February following public outcry over a reported proposal to bring in 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh over the next three years, and revised its rehiring of illegals programme closing date from December 31 toJune 30 due to the poor response.
The ministry had then said the rehiring programme would enable them to obtain data from undocumented workers in the country — believed to number between 1.2 million and 1.7 million.
He said the ministry plans to address the issue by getting employers to reduce their dependency on foreign workers, and reduce their numbers in the long run.
“We have guidelines. The ratio of foreign workers to locals is 20:80 for every company. But in some sectors like agriculture and manufacturing, they are hiring 80 per cent foreigners, so they are not adhering to the guidelines by the Cabinet.
“This is another problem with employers ... they refuse to automate their processes and do not want to hire and train locals. They want to take foreign workers at a cheaper price.”
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the ministry had not lifted the foreign workers ban for the construction, manufacturing, plantation and furniture sectors.
“The Cabinet had directed the Home Ministry to consider (lifting the ban for the four sectors) but it has not been finalised,” he said.
“The ban remains for all sectors. We will only make a decision once the rehiring programme is over. If we lift it, no one would want to sign up for the rehiring programme.
He said employers lobbied the use of agents to hire foreign workers instead of going directly to the ministry.
“We don’t want agents as it will lead to undesirable acts such as corruption and the welfare of workers would be neglected.
He also took a swipe at employers who failed to care for their foreign workers.
“There has been a surge in tuberculosis and hepatitis cases among foreign workers. This is due to irresponsible employers who do not provide proper housing and safeguard their health,” he added.
