271 illegals register on first day of rehiring

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 271 illegal immigrants were registered by their employers on the first day of the Illegal Immigrants Rehiring and Relocation Programme, which began on Monday.

Immigration director-general Datuk Sakib Kusmi said that of the total, 245 were Indonesians, eight were Myanmar nationals, and the rest from other countries.

“Of the 271 illegal immigrants who registered, the Immigration Department has processed a total of 31 applications, of which 23 were successful, while the remaining eight were rejected because they did not meet the set conditions,” he said in a statement here, yesterday.

The programme implemented online, aimed to provide an opportunity to illegal immigrants working in the country to obtain valid work permits in order to meet the employment demands of the sectors that have been approved.

The Immigration Department has advised the public and employers not to deal with unauthorised agents or any party which claimed to be able to manage illegal immigrants, to avoid the risk of fraud.

Sakib said the department was bombarded with questions from the public and employers, who had come to Immigration offices or phoned in to get information about the programme.

He said information on the criteria and conditions to be met by illegal immigrants and employers, as well as method of registration could be obtained from the website - rehiring.imi. gov.my, or www.imi.gov.my. - Bernama