Thursday, January 14th, 2010 13:47:00
EXPOSED: Lim (in blue) at the illegal foreign workers' settlement at Jalan Putramas yesterday — Pic: Razak Ghazali
KUALA LUMPUR: More joint operations will be conducted soon to tackle the problem of illegal foreign workers.
The Immigration Department is conducting talks with other enforcement agencies to tackle the matter jointly, Immigration director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said.
"The department is discussing the issue with the police and Rela (People's Vounteer Corps). We will be meeting to work out the mechanics of the operations in due course," he told The Malay Mail, adding that the department was also educating employers on the hiring of foreign workers.
KL mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail said abolishing illegal foreign worker settlements was sensitive, and that City Hall needed to conduct a study before deciding to come down hard on the foreigners.
"However, illegal foreign worker settlements cannot be sprouting up everywhere and every time. City Hall has a zero-squatter target that we are working to achieve."
Yesterday, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng exposed one such illegal foreign workers' settlement, next to the Royal Domain Sri Putramas II Condominium at Jalan Putramas 1, off Jalan Kuching here.
"There is a sizeable population of illegal foreign workers in KL and one of their hideouts is here, just a stone's throw from the KL court complex," Lim said.
Occupied by Indonesian workers, the squatter village has been around for seven years, consisting of 150 wooden houses with an average of four residents per house.
Previously occupied by rubber estate workers, the place is now home to foreign workers employed mostly at the condominiums and the Istana Negara complex nearby, he said.
"The number of illegal foreign workers in the country is simply alarming. The Immigration Department, KL City Hall and police should hold a joint operation to tackle the problem.
"I understand that these foreigners are here to earn a better living. If so, they should be granted amnesty. They should be allowed a certain period, like three months, to return to their homeland. If they still don't leave, they should be arrested," Lim added.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said on Tuesday that 39,046 Indian citizens had gone "missing" in Malaysia after their tourist visas expired.
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