Correcting perception
Ministry to start with restructure of police force and Immigration Dept
The police force and the Immigration Dept to be restructured to counter negative public perception.
PAGOH: The police force and the Immigration Department are among the agencies to be restructured to counter negative public perception about them, says Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He said it was important to have officers who carried out their duties with high integrity and in accordance with the rule of law.
“I have been getting feedback directly and indirectly via social media and other ways. I need time to study them,” he said, adding that beside the police force, there were also many complaints about foreign workers.
Speaking to reporters at his Hari Raya open house here yesterday, Muhyiddin said the Government would take measures to reduce the number of foreign workers and the illegal ones, as outlined in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto.
“That is why we have taken initial steps to address the issue, including stopping the rehiring of illegal workers.
“This has been going on for years with syndicates bringing in illegals,” he said.
Muhyiddin explained that the rehiring exercise was stopped as it was a method used to legalise illegal workers via an amnesty pro gramme for them to get jobs.
“I do not agree with this. This involves some 700,000 workers who have been legalised this way.
“This is why this will be stopped at the end of this month,” he said, adding that illegal workers should be sent home.
Asked whether heads would roll on these cases, he said: “The whole thing is messy and needs to be cleaned up.”
He said there were also issues about a company being given the green light to bring in Bangladeshi workers.
“We are looking into this. This needs to be fixed,” he said.