THE Immigration crackdown is only targeted at those who working illegally in the country, said Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran.

“The headache that we have in this country is not so much the government disallowing foreign workers, but that a lot of foreign workers don’t (stay employed at the same place) and they extend their stay (illegally).

“They want to move into the cities. So the enforcement comes about,” he told The Malaysian Insight at the Parliament today.

“For example, plantation workers come in at a low levy, but want to come into the city (to do business). What do we do? These are the problems.”

Rights groups have criticised the government’s recent crackdown on foreign workers as heavy handed while businesses have complained of stalled productivity due to the sudden shortage in manpower the raids engendered.

Politicians and activists are calling for a temporary halt to the crackdown, dubbed Ops Mega 3.0, claiming even foreigners with valid work documents are being hauled up.

Kulasegaran assured employers that his ministry was working closely with the Home Ministry, headed by Muhyiddin Yassin, to “better manage” the operation and ensure foreign workers with proper documentation were not mistakenly detained.

“The government is trying to resolve the matter and a cabinet committee has been formed by Muhyiddin and myself,” said the Ipoh Barat MP, adding that the latter was stalled due to Muhyiddin going on medical leave after surgery.

The crackdown on illegal foreign workers is one of the few policies of the Barisan Nasional administration that Pakatan Harapan is continuing.

PH blames the loopholes in former foreign worker recruitment policies for the large number of migrant workers, both legal and illegal, in the workforce.

Klang MP Charles Santiago and the North-South Initiative (NSI) group had claimed that foreign workers were rounded up and “chained and marked like animals” by overzealous officers in Ops Mega 3.0.

Kulasegaran said Putrajaya was aware of the need to change the local perception of foreign workers as “slaves” and to accord them dignity and respect.

He said the ministry was considering a proposal to alter the term “foreign workers” to “foreign guest workers”.

“Guest workers make sense, they are only permitted to stay for a period of time.

“They are foreign guest workers, they are not slaves. I think is a good thing to consider. – July 24, 2018.