THE rehiring programme for illegal migrant workers was a failure as less than 50% of applications were approved, said an employers’ group, and the low figure is compounding worries for bosses as Putrajaya cracks down on those without legal work documents.

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsudin Bardan said 828,861 applications had been submitted but only 450,000 permits were issued by the Immigration Department.

“It did not achieve the target we hoped for. 

“Of the submissions, 100,000 applications were rejected and 450,000 approved. As for the rest, they (workers and their employers) did not wish to continue with the process, as the workers did not complete their medical check-up or biometric applications, or they didn’t have passports.

“Those who didn’t make the cut can no longer apply as the rehiring programme has ended, as has the 3+1 amnesty programme,” Shamsudin told The Malaysian Insight, citing Immigration Department figures.

The rehiring programme began in February 2016 and ended on June 30 this year. It was initiated to help employers legalise foreign workers.

It overlapped with an amnesty programme that ended on August 30, which required illegal workers to pay a RM300 fine and RM100 for a special pass for passage to return to their respective countries. 

Under the amnesty programme that started in 2014, more than 840,000 illegal immigrants were expatriated while RM400 million in compounds collected.

Since August 31, the Immigration Department has launched a sweep for those without valid work documents, which has employers worried, Shamsudin said.

He said despite being here legally, there was always the possibility of workers being detained as they do not always carry their work permits with them.

“Many of those who are legal do not bring their permits to work because it is not necessary for them to do so.

“But if they are caught, they will still be considered illegal as they can’t produce legitimate working passes. How are they going to prove that they are legal workers?” Shamsudin said.

Foreign workers used to be able to prove their legal status with a special card but rampant forgery of such cards led the Immigration Department to stop recognising them, he said.

“Foreign workers used to carry the i-Kad. They had to bring it everywhere they went in case they were arrested. But many fake cards have been found and now, the ministry is trying to come up with a new policy. We will have to wait for the announcement.”

Director-general of Immigration Mustafar Ali has not responded to The Malaysian Insight’s requests for comments on the rehiring programme’s failure to accept all applications.

So far, the sweep of illegal foreign workers, dubbed Op Mega 3.0, has seen 5,444 arrests, with another 135 employers detained, Mustafar told The Star recently.

On the number of undocumented migrant workers in the country, Shamsudin said he could not give a precise figure but said that were usually seven illegal ones for every 10 legal migrant workers.

“I can’t be precise. Even the Human Resources Ministry can’t be sure, but what we have is (a rough estimate of) seven illegal workers for every 10 foreign workers. One legal worker is equivalent to 2.3 illegal workers.”

There are an estimated 1.8 million legal foreign workers in the country. – September 5, 2018.