ALL illegal Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia will be allowed to legalise their status despite an ongoing nationwide Immigration crackdown, reports The Daily Star.

Director-general of Immigration Mustafar Ali gave the assurance to a two-member Bangladesh delegation, led by High Commissioner Md Shahidul Islam, during a meeting in Putrajaya.

Op Mega E-card, which began on July 1, is targeting the almost 600,000 illegal foreign workers in the country.

The Dhaka-based paper said all Bangladeshi workers staying illegally in the country will be allowed to legalise their status under a “rehiring programme”, which will continue until December 31.

Government representatives from Bangladesh, India and Nepal also met Mustafar on Monday, requesting a halt in the crackdown and urging the department to allow their nationals to legalise their status.

Mustafar told Shahidul that all illegal Bangladeshis living in Malaysia will get the opportunity to be legalised under the rehiring programme, the Bangladesh High Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.

Putrajaya also urged the high commission to publicise the move to allow undocumented Bangladeshis to legalise their status under Op Mega E-card.

Illegal workers may turn up at the Immigration office to register themselves without any fear of arrest but they must first obtain letters from their employers.

Employers can also submit their applications online to source for workers from countries approved by the Home Ministry.

The E-card was launched on February 15 as a temporary confirmation of employment for illegal workers in five sectors in need of cheap foreign labour.

It replaces valid travel documents from the workers’ res­pec­tive countries

On July 1, the immigration authorities launched a large-scale operation to flush out illegal. Police detained some 1,035 foreign nationals, including 515 Bangladeshis.

Workers with an E-card will be able to stay and work until February 15, 2018. – July 21, 2017.