Ministry blames foreign agents for labour glut, denies 'zero checks' done

 

The Human Resources Ministry has denied allegations that its policy to relax conditions of labour import has led to a supply glut and proliferation of modern-day slave trading.

Instead, the ministry told Malaysiakini that the situation is caused by labour supply agencies from sending countries.

"The ministry disagrees with allegations that there is a glut in foreign labour due to the relaxation.

"Quotas were given according to the needs of the industry which applied for it.

"The number of quotas approved is based on the employers' eligibility at the time of application," it told Malaysiakini in a written reply.

The ministry added that despite the relaxation, it is not true it conducted "zero checks".

This is because prospective employers seeking quotas still had to submit documents supporting their request, which were vetted to ensure the demand is genuine, it said.

Additionally, it said that the Labour Department conducts follow-up checks on companies which were granted quotas, six months after the approval.

Ministry moots suspending foreign agencies

The ministry was responding to Malaysiakini's expose on how traffickers are trading migrant workers, by charging fees to employers and taking multiple layers of commissions of the workers' hourly wage.

Industry veterans blamed the government's relaxation of conditions between Jan 17 to March 14 for the glut of workers, who were imported without having jobs ready for them.

The ministry said from its investigations, this issue is caused by rogue agents in sending countries, especially in Bangladesh.

"Labour agencies in source countries recruited and sent workers without matching demand from employers and without informing employers that the workers were coming.

"The Human Resources Ministry proposes that the Bangladeshi recruitment agencies involved be suspended from sending workers to Malaysia," it said.

However, the ministry was silent on how the workers entered Malaysia and whether the agents had secured calling visas, despite not securing jobs for the workers.

It also did not address the Bangladesh High Commission’s call for the Human Resources Ministry to fully verify all approved quotas after hundreds of newly arrived Bangladeshi workers were stranded without jobs.

Meanwhile, the ministry clarified that in the relaxation period, some 455,343 migrant worker quotas were approved, while there was a demand of about 500,000 workers.

It said the earlier figure of close to a million workers cited by minister V Sivakumar, was referring to approvals for quotas since the new government took over in November 2022. - Mkini