No deadline extension for hiring of migrant workers - Saifuddin

The government does not plan to extend the deadline for the hiring of migrant workers, including Bangladeshis, into the country through the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0 which ended on May 31.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he felt the period given by Malaysia was reasonable for managing all migrant worker procedures.

“When we fixed the date (May 31), we factored in all the meaningful processes from the quota approval, health checks, obtaining the visa, and arranging flight tickets,” he told reporters after attending Penang Yang di-Pertua Negeri Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak’s visit to the Seberang Perai Prison in Nibong Tebal today.

“Recently, there was a surge of over 20,000 migrant workers over four days (May 28 to 31) into the country, and when we checked, among those who entered had their visas approved 10 years ago. The issue is, why wait till May 31 to bring them in?”

Saifuddin said according to projected numbers and the recent entry of over 20,000 workers, the country will have more than 2.6 million migrant workers by December, exceeding the Economic Planning Unit target, which is 2.5 million migrant workers.

Foreign manpower target achieved

He explained that the influx of migrant workers has reached the target of foreign manpower requirements for the manufacturing, construction, and service sectors.

For the plantation and agriculture sectors, the government will process applications according to the existing quota approvals for now, he added.

Local media reported that Bangladesh had requested Putrajaya to allow nearly 17,000 Bangladeshi workers, who had approved work visas but missed the May 31 deadline, to arrive in Malaysia by extending the entry period.

No interference in police escort case

Separately, Saifuddin said he does not want to interfere in the case of a police escort to a VIP being investigated for the alleged assault of a disabled man and that Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain is overseeing the matter.

“I will not interfere, it is up to the IGP,” he said.

On Friday, Razarudin said the police would summon the officers involved in the investigation to Bukit Aman to assist in investigations.

- Bernama