The police effort to weed out unregistered foreign workers nationwide after Hari Raya have been called a "despicable" attempt to fool the public and must be stopped, said NGO Tenaganita, which champions foreign workers' rights in Malaysia.
It today questioned the crackdown on foreign workers when rising serious crime, mostly perpetrated by locals, is left untackled.
"It is unacceptable that the Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left) is creating an illusion of being tough on crime by going after the people least responsible for crime, " Tenaganita's executive director Irene Fernandez said.
"This is despicable as migrants are often undocumented as a result of state policies."
She said a crackdown was unneeded if the Home Ministry had effectively carried out the registration of illegal workers with its 6P programme, using an expensive biometric identification system announced some two years back.
It was said then that there were some 1.3 million "undocumented" illegal workers in Malaysia.
Fernandez called the 6P programme an "absolute fiasco." She said that Tenaganita's groundwork among foreign workers revealed that many had been cheated by agents and some, even after paying thousands of ringgit, have yet to receive their proper papers even after years.
She challenged the director-general of immigration which had said that workers could get permits in two weeks to "come down from his ivory tower to see the reality."
"With three or four ministries involved in appraising the workers' permit, it is not going to happen within two weeks," Fernandez said.
She also cited deputy home minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar as saying last month that only one percent of crime in Malaysia was committed by foreigners.
"Why is the police then expanding energy to hunt down migrants who have come to work for us?" she asked.
She pleaded for more sympathy for the cause of the foreign workers and refugees, many of whom were duped by employers and devious agents to work under very poor conditions.
It today questioned the crackdown on foreign workers when rising serious crime, mostly perpetrated by locals, is left untackled.
"It is unacceptable that the Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left) is creating an illusion of being tough on crime by going after the people least responsible for crime, " Tenaganita's executive director Irene Fernandez said."This is despicable as migrants are often undocumented as a result of state policies."
She said a crackdown was unneeded if the Home Ministry had effectively carried out the registration of illegal workers with its 6P programme, using an expensive biometric identification system announced some two years back.
It was said then that there were some 1.3 million "undocumented" illegal workers in Malaysia.
Fernandez called the 6P programme an "absolute fiasco." She said that Tenaganita's groundwork among foreign workers revealed that many had been cheated by agents and some, even after paying thousands of ringgit, have yet to receive their proper papers even after years.
She challenged the director-general of immigration which had said that workers could get permits in two weeks to "come down from his ivory tower to see the reality."
"With three or four ministries involved in appraising the workers' permit, it is not going to happen within two weeks," Fernandez said.
She also cited deputy home minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar as saying last month that only one percent of crime in Malaysia was committed by foreigners.
"Why is the police then expanding energy to hunt down migrants who have come to work for us?" she asked.
She pleaded for more sympathy for the cause of the foreign workers and refugees, many of whom were duped by employers and devious agents to work under very poor conditions.
M'sia on US watchlist
Last month, Malaysia was put on United States watchlist as one of the countries which was failing in its efforts to combat human trafficking.
Malaysia was ranked, for the fourth consecutive year on the 'Tier 2 watch list' alongside countries such as Afghanistan, Rwanda, Lebanon and Cambodia.
Tenaganita also further questioned how the Home Ministry's latest crackdown, which appeared to target entertainment industry workers such as "Indonesians, Filipinos and Thais" could arrest the illegal sex industry in Malaysia.
"Migrants are not trafficking themselves... How will arresting and deporting victims stop the trafficking of persons in Malaysia?" Fernandez said, adding that a survey showed that the country's 12 detention centres were already overflowing with detainees.
Malaysia was ranked, for the fourth consecutive year on the 'Tier 2 watch list' alongside countries such as Afghanistan, Rwanda, Lebanon and Cambodia.
Tenaganita also further questioned how the Home Ministry's latest crackdown, which appeared to target entertainment industry workers such as "Indonesians, Filipinos and Thais" could arrest the illegal sex industry in Malaysia."Migrants are not trafficking themselves... How will arresting and deporting victims stop the trafficking of persons in Malaysia?" Fernandez said, adding that a survey showed that the country's 12 detention centres were already overflowing with detainees.
It costs RM35 a day to hold a foreign worker in detention.
She also urged a moratorium to the "inhumanness in the whole strategy of the crackdown as there is a high risk of sexual violations."
Furthermore, Tenaganita also lambasted the lack of basic justice for foreign workers arrested and charged in Selangor courts.
Citing a recent three months study, Tenaganita said that out of 500 cases of foreign workers charged in Selangor courts for illegal entry and overstaying, only four cases were represented by a lawyer.
"70 percent pleaded guilty in many instances in the absence of a translator and when they clearly demonstrated being unable to understand the court processes or the charges levied against them," Fernandez held.
She also urged a moratorium to the "inhumanness in the whole strategy of the crackdown as there is a high risk of sexual violations."
Furthermore, Tenaganita also lambasted the lack of basic justice for foreign workers arrested and charged in Selangor courts.
Citing a recent three months study, Tenaganita said that out of 500 cases of foreign workers charged in Selangor courts for illegal entry and overstaying, only four cases were represented by a lawyer.
"70 percent pleaded guilty in many instances in the absence of a translator and when they clearly demonstrated being unable to understand the court processes or the charges levied against them," Fernandez held.
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