Don’t wait until the last minute again, bosses told

Employers should register for the rehiring programme ahead of the deadline. Datuk Rohaizi Ibrahim

JOHOR BARU: Employers should make full use of this five-month period to register their foreign workers under the Immigration Department’s rehiring programme before the Dec 31 deadline.

Johor Immigration Department director Datuk Rohaizi Ibrahim said as of July 12, only 3,500 foreigners have registered for the programme, of whom 1,500 have obtained temporary employment pass for foreign workers.

“Employers should register for the rehiring programme ahead of the deadline and not wait until the last minute like the E-kad application which ended on June 30.

“This will give them ample time to apply for legal documents for their workers,” he said during the department’s Hari Raya open house yesterday.

Rohaizi said there would be no compromise once the registration period ends and the department would not hesitate to arrest illegal foreigners and employers who harbour them.

He said the state department arrested 3,500 illegal foreigners working in various sectors since the beginning of the year until July 11.

They were found to have abused their social visit passes or working passes and for other offences such as overstaying and not possessing valid travel documents, said Rohaizi.

He said 97 employers were arrested for harbouring illegal immigrants.

Those arrested were mostly from the construction, manufacturing and service sectors, he said.

Rohaizi said more than 17,000 illegal foreigners in Johor opted to leave the country on a voluntary basis.

He said the option was for foreigners who were not eligible for the E-kad or rehiring programme, with the majority of them from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal.