NO more special quotas will be given for recruitment of migrant workers, said Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin.

He said every application from employers must now go through the ministry’s evaluation committee to determine the number of migrant workers eligible to be employed in accordance with the set terms and conditions.

“Whatever people may say, take note that any employer who needs to hire migrant workers must obtain the committee’s approval according to the law.

“Take the plantation sector for example, you must know the migrant worker quota and how many are eligible. Let’s say there should be 1,000 workers but because there is no sufficient accommodation, so probably you can only get 400.

“To get the additional workers, you need to submit another application to the Human Resource Ministry or appeal to us for a review because we have made the process more stringent,” he said in Larut, Perak, today.

He was commenting on the call by National Organisation of Private Service Agencies Malaysia (Papsma) secretary-general Sukumaran Nair for the government to abolish the ‘special approval’ granted to certain parties to have a monopoly on the entry of migrant workers to prevent abuse of the system.

Hamzah said if the quota system was not applied and recruitment could be carried out freely, migrant workers would simply enter the country without adhering to the conditions and criteria set, resulting in various welfare problems.

Previously, employers had to go through the Home Ministry but this has been transferred to the Human Resources Ministry to ensure uniformity in policies and procedures for employment. – Bernama, January 22, 2022.