Crackdown on undocumented workers 'no surprise'

KUALA LUMPUR: The recent massive government crackdown on undocumented foreign workers and their employers was not a totally unexpected operation, say several NGOs.

According to a recent Bernama report, more than 600 employers were arrested for various violations of the Immigration Act. About 3,700 operations had been conducted by the Immigration Department in the first half of the year.

Oppressed People's Network (Jerit) was not impressed with the Immigration Department's action. Its coordinator V Selvam said the crackdown was merely a “straightforward approach” to solve a nagging problem.

He told FMT that a better solution would be to provide illegal workers with proper documents.

“If these workers were to be documented, then it would be easier to control them, and they won't be on the run.

"In the past, amnesties would be granted to illegal workers. They would be given a certain period where they can choose to go home or (continue to) work here," said Selvam.

“But it has been stopped now,” he said, speculating that amnesty might have been halted due to Malaysia's ailing economy.

Massive social problem

Tenaganita, a shelter for abused women, said the crackdown was supposed to have been carried out last year after an Indonesian maid was killed.

Said its programme director, Glorene Dass: “The authorities were supposed to perform spot-checks on employers then but it didn't take off. It could be something that they didn't want people to know about.

“In the first two months of the year, the government was planning to come down on undocumented workers,” Glorene told FMT.

“But many employers were not happy (with the decision), so they (the government) probably waited until after Chinese New Year before they launched the crackdown,” she added.

Another NGO, Research for Social Advancement, said the crackdown was nothing new. Its director, Richard Yeoh, said: “Every couple of years, it (crackdown) happens before things quieten down again.”

Yeoh said that there was very little control on the number of people being allowed into Malaysia and this had created a massive social problem.

“These foreign workers pay a lot of money to come to Malaysia. But when they get here, they are mistreated and lose their jobs. Eventually they become illegal immigrants,” he said.

Rojak system

Yeoh added that no number of crackdowns would resolve the situation. Instead, he suggested that labour outsourcing companies which supply foreign workers be strictly controlled.

Kuala Langat MP Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid feels the enforcement system is weak. “We can only resolve the problem if we enforce the laws strictly,” he said.

“If you look at our system, it is very rojak,” the PKR strongman said. “If one department wants to solve a problem, the other will not cooperate."

Abdullah also said there were about 1.9 million undocumented foreign workers in the country. "It's a very dangerous number," he said. "The number of undocumented workers has not reduced. It has been increasing day by day."