Illegal foreign workers in Malaysia drop drastically hinh anh 1Illegal foreign workers arrested at a construction work in Negri Sembilan, Malaysia (Source: nst.com.my)
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Local media reported on December 14 that the number of illegal foreign workers in Malaysia have reduced drastically thanks to the Immigration Department’s rehiring and resettlement of illegal immigrants programme.

According to Freemalaysiatoday newspaper, Minister of Human Resource Richard Riot lauded the success of the programme, which was launched on February15 and is scheduled to end on December 31 this year.

Without mentioning the specific figures, the minister said that only three out of 10 foreign workers are now illegal with the rehiring and resettlement of illegal immigrants programme.

Richard said there were two types of illegal foreign workers, those who came into the country via legal means and those who were here without any valid travel documents or employment permits.

According to the minister, the latter includes foreign immigrants with falsified passports and fake employment permits and who enter the country via unofficial channels.

On the former, Richard explained that even though such foreign workers came into the country using valid documents, they become illegal for various reasons, such as when their work permits expire and are not renewed, they are terminated from service, or their employers fail to renew their work permit.

The programme was implemented by the immigration department, following the government’s move to freeze the intake of foreign workers.

Aside from enabling illegal foreign workers to obtain valid work permits and help fulfill industry needs, the programme was to help the government ascertain the number of illegal migrants in the country for the purpose of monitoring security.-VNA



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