The rehiring of illegals programme deadline has been revised from Dec 31 to June 30 due to the poor response from employers. The Home Ministry in a statement said the deadline has been shortened as employers were not responsive to the programme.
“Based on our studies, although the programme has been implemented for almost a month with massive enforcement operations conducted by the Immigration Department, the programme is still at unsatisfactory level as many employers were found to hire illegal foreigners.
“Therefore, the employers are urged to take this opportunity to take part in the programme to enable their illegal foreign workers to obtain valid work permit. The government will not hesitate to take legal action against employers who hire illegal foreigners in line with Section 55 (B) of Immigration Act 1959/63,” it said in a statement.
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Under the act, those who hire illegal workers are liable to a maximum RM50,000 fine, a maximum jail term of 12 months, or both, for each illegal employee. In addition, any employers who hire more than five illegal workers will be jailed between six months and five years, and receive up to six strokes of the rotan, if convicted.
The ministry said a total of 15,822 foreign workers were registered under the rehiring programme from Feb 15 to March 10. From the total number, 9,738 were Indonesians, 3,808 Bangladeshis, 425 from Myanmar and 1,851 were from other countries.
Well, there have been so much brouhaha, complaints and feedbacks by employers, employees and the those on the ground. While we need to be stern in keeping our backyard from the illegals, we also need to look at the sentiments and long-unresolved problems.
Just like what happened to the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) which was concluded in December 2014, its recommendations were being left unattended. No further steps were taken to pursue it. We were only interested in finding who and how many identification cards were issued to the foreigners but never wanted to find an amicable solution to it.
In the rehiring program, the three agencies given permission by the ministry do not impose a standard fee for registration and other charges; their main objective is to make as much income as possible without taking a look at the security aspect of the process.
I believe no immigration or ministry officials had ever taken the effort to take a look at how the private companies appointed for the job handle the registrarion, and with no standard fee, the whole program only produce confusion on the ground.
We should stop blaming the employers. Nobody want to be reprimanded for hiring illegals but there are matters that hinder them from joining, especially the high different charges imposed by the companies, the 'congested' on-line services and the ongoing exercise by the Immigration Department to nab illegal workers.
While we ask employers to register, their workers got hauled up without being given the time to register.
Why not we set an ultimatum, say 6 months for those who want to work legally, to do so. In the process of having their work permits approved, they must register with companies appointed for the task.
I believe many illegals would want to join the program but three companies alone cannot handle it. The government needs to appoint a few more to speed up the process.
The registration is also for security reason. Only those qualified for a work permit will be identified based on their personal documents and past record. This will be able to separate 'the boys from men'.
The ministry cannot be seen as making invariable statements on the matter, or the opposition and the public may label it a flip flop. Set a single strong guideline - from info, feedback and recommendation by respective parties - to avoid any further confusion and problems.
Yes, there were good and bad recommendations and officials tasked for the program should be able to distinguish the good ones and take it up to minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The minister needs input from his subordinates before making any announcement, and this would help quash criticism.
We are inching toward becoming a full-develop nation less than four years from now. If we fail to overcome this problem by taking into consideration good proposals and view, it will never be solved.
Zahid alone cannot find solutions to this issue, his officials must assist him. We have experienced senior officers at the ministry who should be able to work it out.
Enforcement alone will not help. What we really need is a good and effective program.
And since we already put a stop to intake of new foreign workers, we must use our discretion in the rehiring program. Just set a viable ultimatum, get all those foreign workers - illegal or not - to compulsorily register before the authority determine who should be re-employed and who should go home after being given a time frame.
We still need those eligible to work here. Actually it was the right move to stop bringing in the new ones of we can 'recycle' those who are already here. In the process, we should be gradually able to reduce the number of illegals in the country.
Kuwait - with 2.5 million foreigners to about 900,000 locals - had in 2009 introduced a program that regulated all foreigners, including their spouses, parents and kids to register within 3 months, and those not eligible to stay and work were given 10 months to leave. Those who failed to comply would end up in prison.
Maybe we can learn something from them... after all, we dont really know how many foreigners are in the country. All figures are based on loose estimates!
“Based on our studies, although the programme has been implemented for almost a month with massive enforcement operations conducted by the Immigration Department, the programme is still at unsatisfactory level as many employers were found to hire illegal foreigners.
“Therefore, the employers are urged to take this opportunity to take part in the programme to enable their illegal foreign workers to obtain valid work permit. The government will not hesitate to take legal action against employers who hire illegal foreigners in line with Section 55 (B) of Immigration Act 1959/63,” it said in a statement.
Under the act, those who hire illegal workers are liable to a maximum RM50,000 fine, a maximum jail term of 12 months, or both, for each illegal employee. In addition, any employers who hire more than five illegal workers will be jailed between six months and five years, and receive up to six strokes of the rotan, if convicted.
The ministry said a total of 15,822 foreign workers were registered under the rehiring programme from Feb 15 to March 10. From the total number, 9,738 were Indonesians, 3,808 Bangladeshis, 425 from Myanmar and 1,851 were from other countries.
Well, there have been so much brouhaha, complaints and feedbacks by employers, employees and the those on the ground. While we need to be stern in keeping our backyard from the illegals, we also need to look at the sentiments and long-unresolved problems.
Just like what happened to the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) which was concluded in December 2014, its recommendations were being left unattended. No further steps were taken to pursue it. We were only interested in finding who and how many identification cards were issued to the foreigners but never wanted to find an amicable solution to it.
In the rehiring program, the three agencies given permission by the ministry do not impose a standard fee for registration and other charges; their main objective is to make as much income as possible without taking a look at the security aspect of the process.
I believe no immigration or ministry officials had ever taken the effort to take a look at how the private companies appointed for the job handle the registrarion, and with no standard fee, the whole program only produce confusion on the ground.
We should stop blaming the employers. Nobody want to be reprimanded for hiring illegals but there are matters that hinder them from joining, especially the high different charges imposed by the companies, the 'congested' on-line services and the ongoing exercise by the Immigration Department to nab illegal workers.
While we ask employers to register, their workers got hauled up without being given the time to register.
Why not we set an ultimatum, say 6 months for those who want to work legally, to do so. In the process of having their work permits approved, they must register with companies appointed for the task.
I believe many illegals would want to join the program but three companies alone cannot handle it. The government needs to appoint a few more to speed up the process.
The registration is also for security reason. Only those qualified for a work permit will be identified based on their personal documents and past record. This will be able to separate 'the boys from men'.
The ministry cannot be seen as making invariable statements on the matter, or the opposition and the public may label it a flip flop. Set a single strong guideline - from info, feedback and recommendation by respective parties - to avoid any further confusion and problems.
Yes, there were good and bad recommendations and officials tasked for the program should be able to distinguish the good ones and take it up to minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The minister needs input from his subordinates before making any announcement, and this would help quash criticism.
We are inching toward becoming a full-develop nation less than four years from now. If we fail to overcome this problem by taking into consideration good proposals and view, it will never be solved.
Zahid alone cannot find solutions to this issue, his officials must assist him. We have experienced senior officers at the ministry who should be able to work it out.
Enforcement alone will not help. What we really need is a good and effective program.
And since we already put a stop to intake of new foreign workers, we must use our discretion in the rehiring program. Just set a viable ultimatum, get all those foreign workers - illegal or not - to compulsorily register before the authority determine who should be re-employed and who should go home after being given a time frame.
We still need those eligible to work here. Actually it was the right move to stop bringing in the new ones of we can 'recycle' those who are already here. In the process, we should be gradually able to reduce the number of illegals in the country.
Kuwait - with 2.5 million foreigners to about 900,000 locals - had in 2009 introduced a program that regulated all foreigners, including their spouses, parents and kids to register within 3 months, and those not eligible to stay and work were given 10 months to leave. Those who failed to comply would end up in prison.
Maybe we can learn something from them... after all, we dont really know how many foreigners are in the country. All figures are based on loose estimates!