Malaysia gov’t should ease foreign workers’ recruitment: Minister
The Malaysian government should ensure easy access for its business operators to hire foreign workers before they are punished for hiring illegals, said a minister today.
Dr Wee Ka Siong, who is a minister in the Prime Minister’s department made the comment following the Malaysian Immigration Department’s announcement last Tuesday that it would freeze assets and bank accounts of companies in the industrial sector if found to have hired illegal foreign workers, reports Malaysian English daily The Star.
“We cannot assume all but many businesses, especially those doing manufacturing, urgently need workers. It is either they hire these workers or their businesses will go bust,” he told The Star in a phone interview.
READ ALSO: Malaysia to announce foreign workers’ recruitment soon
Caught in such a dilemma, many businesses chose to hire illegal workers to keep afloat; the minister said adding “If we want to impose strict punishment, access to new workers or rehiring of illegal workers should be made easy. Only then should we talk about punishment.”
Dr Wee said there was a need to strike a balance when tackling the issue of illegal foreign workers. “We need to control the number of foreign workers. We urgently need a proper monitoring system. But, we must also acknowledge that many sectors still need workers to continue their operations,” he said.
READ ALSO: 2 lakh undocumented Bangladeshis register in Malaysia
Currently, more than 4 lakh Bangladeshis are working in different sectors in Malaysia legally while a good number of the Bangladeshis are also working without legal documents.
On February 19 this year, Malaysian government suspended hiring of foreign workers including Bangladeshis following the signing of a memorandum of understanding for recruitment of workers from Dhaka.
However, the Southeast Asian country has recently decided to hire workers from Bangladesh in three categories---construction, manufacture and service.
Comments