Govt warns against third-party agents in migrant amnesty exercise

 

Unauthorised third-party agents continue to be a bane to government's efforts in reducing the number of undocumented migrants here, targeting both vulnerable workers and desperate employers.

The government had last Nov 16 launched its latest amnesty exercise and Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said his department had received information on offers made by so-called third-party agents to migrants and workers.

"There were attempts by agents and third-parties to offer their services to manage registration for the labour recalibration and repatriation programme.

"This (offer) was made to employers looking to hire undocumented migrants and to undocumented migrants who wished to return home," he said in a statement today.

Khairul Dzaimee (photo above) stressed that the Immigration Department has never appointed any agents to run the labour recalibration exercise; therefore, employers and undocumented migrants are urged to register directly before its June 30 deadline.

Any questions on the programme can be directed to the department's online system, he added.

In an immediate reaction, North-South Initiative director Adrian Pereira said migrant rights groups have consistently welcomed government efforts to remove agents and middlemen from the management of foreign workers, but the policy's implementation has so far fallen short.

"Where are the SOPs in the languages understood by the migrants themselves to follow?

"Even with no agents, there were allegations of internal breach of integrity and hence, there must still be monitoring of the process," he told Malaysiakini.

"The irregular workers, or PATI (foreign immigrants without permission) are in very vulnerable situations with many actors trying to make a quick buck from them.

"So, we hope MACC and the Home Ministry will work closely to monitor this," he said.

It was previously reported that undocumented migrants who can be employed under the recalibration plan are those whose work permits or social visit passes have expired, those who work in a different sector instead of the one stated on their permit, are not reported to have fled from their employers and are not blacklisted.

Meanwhile, those who wished to return home can go to the nearest Immigration office with a valid passport or temporary travel document, return ticket, and pay RM500 compound.

Last December, it was reported that Klang police had arrested 37 undocumented migrants and two local agents found hiding in a budget hotel, believed to be a transit location before departing via boat to Indonesia.

Police at the time revealed each migrant was charged up to RM2,500 for the perilous journey.

The recalibration programme was first announced last Nov 12, partly to address a labour shortage in certain industries by allowing employers from the construction, manufacturing, plantation and agriculture sectors to legally employ undocumented foreign workers.

This time, the government has reportedly set a target participation of up to 250,000 workers.

Its last Back for Good exercise which ended on Dec 31, 2019, saw deportation of over 180,000 people, and similarly marred with allegations of touts who operated across all levels, including allegedly from within the Immigration Department itself. - Mkini