Bosses group blames red tape for illegal worker problem

It has been estimated that there are about five million illegal workers in the country. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Employers Federation director Shamsuddin Bardan has urged the government to simplify the procedure of approving the employment of foreign nationals, saying this would go some way towards reducing the presence of illegal workers in the country.

He told FMT some employers would resort to employing illegal immigrants because they couldn’t wait for the red tape to be untangled.

He said government checks to ensure a business is run properly would often take too long, keeping employers in suspense and making them nervous over the fate of their applications.

He also said employers found the government to be too strict in making a determination on the number of foreign workers a company could employ.

This was why some of them would take the easy way out to fill their need for manpower, he added, noting that there’s a ready supply of illegals.

It has been estimated that there are about five million illegal workers in the country.

Human rights organisation Tenaganita recently asked the government to punish companies flouting the law instead of going after illegal workers.

Tenaganita director Glorene Das alleged that the number of illegals dying was on the rise.

She cited several reports.

In one of the reports, 91 bodies were said to have been sent from Malaysia to the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara Timur between January and October this year.

In another report, 322 Nepalese workers were said to have died in 2018.

Glorene also spoke of the recent death of a migrant worker who was bitten by a snake in Sitiawan. She said he was not taken to hospital because he was an illegal.

But Shamsuddin called for stricter enforcement of laws against the illegal workers themselves.

He said crackdowns seemed to be taking place only when complaints were lodged.

He praised the Singapore government for its strictness against overstaying foreigners. In the republic, the penalties for overstaying are a jail term of up to six months and a minimum of three strokes of the cane. Those found guilty of illegal departure can be jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$2,000 or be made to suffer both penalties. - FMT