CANING MULLED
Immigration wants employers harbouring illegal foreign workers to be punished
THE Immigration Department will meet representatives from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and the chief justice next week to discuss stricter penalties for employers who harbour illegal foreign workers.
Immigration director-general Datuk Mustafar Ali said the department would propose introducing caning as a penalty for employers who committed the offence.
“The public suggested caning as punishment for employers who refuse to register their foreign workers.
“I hope to bring this up with the AGC and chief justice,” he said after the department’s monthly assembly yesterday.
Previously, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed had said that caning was among the penalties imposed on employers, other than a fine of RM5,000 under the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Amendment 2002). However, the punishment was never implemented.
Under Section 55B of the act, employers found guilty of protecting illegal foreign workers are fined RM50,000 and face a jail term of up to 12 months.
Mustafar said other matters that would be brought up include expediting case hearings for illegal foreign workers at the Special Court for Illegal Workers.
“The court only hears one case a week despite having more detainees at the detaining depot.”
He said the department would not extend the deadline for its rehiring and 3-plus-1 programme for employers and illegal workers, which ends on Dec 31.
He said late applications and pleas for extension would not be entertained.
“There will not be any extension. Those who failed to register will be detained.”
He said Op Mega, which was carried out to track down and detain employers and illegal workers who failed to obtain the enforcement card, would continue every day, even after Dec 31.
“We will not stop until we register every foreign worker in the country.”
He said employers and foreign workers who wished to work in Malaysia must take the registration drive seriously.
“They (illegal foreign workers) must know the consequences of being detained and sent back. Foreign workers will be blacklisted from returning to Malaysia.”
The rehiring programme was introduced last year when the government stopped the recruitment of new foreign workers.
Illegal foreign workers, however, can seek to be legalised under the programme, which began on Feb 15 last year.
The 3-plus-1 programme, on the other hand, is a voluntarily surrendering of illegal workers. Those who surrender would be charged a penalty of RM400 instead of paying up to RM5,000 if they were caught by the authorities, Mustafar said.
“Under the programme, they will need to pay a fine of RM400, buy an air ticket and return to their countries of origin. They will be barred up to five years from entering Malaysia.”
Mustafar said 164,000 illegal workers had registered for the ECard, while another 495,000 had registered for the rehiring.
“However, only 129,000 applications were approved for the latter category.
“We have some 500,000 workers to register until the end of this year.”
The 3-plus-1 programme saw 141,488 illegal immigrants being registered from Jan 4 to Thursday.
“As of last night (Thursday), we have conducted 9,521 crackdowns.
“A total of 29,665 illegal workers were arrested and 36,102, including those from the depot, have been sent back to their home countries.”