PUTRAJAYA, June 5 — The Home Affairs Ministry said today its minister will head a special committee formed under the Immigration Department to tackle the issues surrounding the influx of foreign workers into Malaysia.
The minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, announced that the committee, would be formed as soon as possible to tackle the array of issues facing the nation.
“We agreed that the department needs to re-evaluate the aspects involved when managing the entry of foreign workers and decided today that a committee will be formed, consisting of multiple agencies.
“The main role of the committee will be for them to look into the aspects concerning foreign workers, such as them entering and exiting the country and management of the individuals,” he said after his first official visit to the Immigration Department headquarters here.
Muhyiddin explained that the committee would be chaired by him and would look at prioritising local manpower before accepting batches of foreign workers into the country.
“We will be looking at the reason for the flooding of illegal immigrants and workers, whether it is an issue of law enforcement or training and abilities.
“This is because the negative effect of them entering illegally into Malaysia is big from a sense of social and economy costs, including safety costs,” the Pagoh MP said.
He said the illegal entry of foreigners was a topic the department could not afford to overlook.
Meanwhile, Immigration Director General Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said a law to fine those who lost their passports was still in the pipeline.
“The proposal has been made, it has been approved by the government.
“However it still needs to be tabled in parliament as it involves the Fees Act 1951, hopefully at the next session,” he said.
The fine for lost passports was first mooted last year, with RM200 a fine for the first time, RM500 for the second, and RM1,000 for losing the document for the third time.
