Suspend crackdown on foreign workers, extend deadline for legalisation
More than 100 Malaysian industry bodies have appealed to their government to suspend the ongoing crackdown on undocumented foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, and extend the legalisation deadline for six months.
In a statement on July 13, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) said 109 trade bodies jointly submitted the appeal to the ministers of home affairs and human resources over the foreign worker rehiring programme.
“The nationwide crackdown to detain illegal foreign workers had affected genuine employers whose applications to legalise workers had been delayed, mainly by third party agents. These employers were badly affected and their business operations disrupted,” said the FMM.
The new Malaysian government ended a legalisation programme on June 30, and on July 1 began a nationwide raid that resulted in arrests of thousands of foreign workers, including Bangladeshis.
The government said it wants to deport the detainees at the soonest and reduce dependence on foreign workers.
The move is significant as Malaysia is home to some one million Bangladeshis and half of them are undocumented. Of them, many have applied for legalisation, but are yet to be legalised. Also, many have paid money to agents or sub-agents and then were deceived.
Rights bodies in Malaysia and beyond also called for suspension of the crackdown and providing a fair chance for legalisation.
“Migrants faced various forms of exploitation by their employers, which forced them to change jobs and become undocumented,” said Adrian Pereira, executive director of Malaysian rights body North South Initiative.
They were also cheated in the process of legalisation but had no option for redress, he told The Daily Star.
Abu Hayat, a Bangladeshi researcher on migration in Malaysia, said with the crackdown beginning on July 1, thousands of Bangladeshis and other nationals were going into hiding.
FMM said it requested applications for foreign workers' legalisation be handled directly by and submitted to immigration counters nationwide, or online if a system is available, not by any third party.
“Conditions for legalisation should adopt the 6P Amnesty programme, which requires workers to be medically fit, have valid passport for 12 months, no criminal record and at minimal costs,” it said.
It also urged for a clear and transparent process and client charter to ensure fast and efficient processing. Also, work permits for legalised workers should be valid for at least one year.
The relevant embassies should facilitate quick issuance of passports to their nationals, it said.
“Employers under voluntary surrender should not be blacklisted. There should not be restrictions or freeze on recruiting new workers from source countries while legalisation is in progress,” it said.
Instead, they said there should be strict enforcement once the legalisation period ends. The recruitment system should be open to all and a redress mechanism to address human trafficking should be there as well, they added.
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