Malaysia : Scrap 6P middlemen to curb abuse, says Gerakan

The government should scrap the middlemen involved in the 6P foreign worker legalisation programme as it is an avenue for exploitation, said Gerakan.

In a statement today, Gerakan Wanita secretary-general Jayanthi Devi Balaguru said the government should "do away with is the requirement of a middleman in most agencies and companies, for it not only increases the cost but also the chance for exploitation".

"By enabling these workers to directly deal with the ministry or government agency, it does not only save time and money, but also reduced the risk of the workers being cheated," she said.

Responding to reports of numerous scams involving the migrant workers programme, Jayanthi said 6P has been abused, causing "massive losses" and has resulted in foreign workers being victimised by certain parties.

"The cost of paying the registration fee is not cheap as the workers need to use a large portion of their meagre salary," she said.

On the whole, the programme needs to be fully reviewed as red tape and systemic flaws can be abused to make money,

She also called for a probe on reports that government insiders are allegedly involved in such abuse.

The government needs to conduct a "full investigation in order to get to the bottom of this mess", she said.

Foreign workers claiming to have been cheated by rogue 6P agents have been lodging police reports, and the fact that the agents have issued them government papers suggests the involvement of government insiders.- Malaysiakini, 6/9/2013, Scrap 6P middlemen to curb abuse, says Gerakan