Clear policy on foreign workers

THE independent committee set up by the Cabinet to streamline policies and management of foreign workers is set to begin work later this month. It is to be chaired by a retired Court of Appeal judge and will have 13 members.

They are to hold town hall sessions nationwide to engage with stakeholders. The committee will come up with suggestions to the government on the holistic intake of foreign workers.

I believe there is a need to establish a joint council to formulate a national policy on foreign workers, a call which has been made by numerous civil society organisations.

Who are the stakeholders they want to engage with in the town hall sessions? Are they individual employers or representatives of civil society?

Town hall sessions are an alien format, limited in scope and populist in intent and will only trivialise the issue.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has gone on record about the need to put in place a proper policy for foreign workers.

Any review of polices and laws governing migrant inflows should first begin with definitive terms of reference, including engagement with civil society organisations and a time frame for its outcome.

For this purpose, a joint council

Town hall sessions are an alien format, limited in scope and populist in intent and will only trivialise the issue.

of stakeholders from the private and public sector must be formed in the spirit of constructive engagement that should include formulating a national policy on foreign workers — not town hall sessions that will become political ceramah.

As an integral part of that policy, the Human Resources Ministry’s (MOHR) role as the premier body on policies for the recruitment of foreign workers needs to be restored to ensure that future intake will only be based on necessity.

Currently, procurement of foreign workers is handled by the Home Ministry. The government should only allow the MOHR to have a say on the issuance of permits for foreign workers.

The Labour Department which comes under the MOHR has 72 offices throughout the country and are better aware of the need to engage foreign workers in a particular workforce.

The Home Ministry should confine itself to security concerns and enforcement through the Immigration Department.

As an immediate measure, the amnesty programme for foreign workers needs to be rehabilitative instead of punitive.

The ranks of undocumented workers, now termed illegals, have swelled as a result of fragmented policies as well as arbitrary decisions and enforcement by the previous administration.

Employers and foreign workers are both casualties of this failed policy.

Undocumented workers occurred after the employment of migrant workers directly by employers was replaced by outsourcing the recruitment of foreign workers.

This led to the influx of foreign workers, increase in costs, demonising of employers and imposition of arbitrary freezes.

The freeze resulted in many Chinese coffee shops as well as Indian-Muslim and banana leaf restaurants having to cease operations in 2017, says a joint committee representing the owners.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. What about the thousands of small and medium entrepreneurs (SME) which are dependent on foreign labour? Before any policies or laws are reviewed, the labour crunch facing SMEs must be addressed.

Allocating 10 foreign workers to each SME employer would reduce the need to apprehend and repatriate foreign workers.

It must be acknowledged that present policies and laws governing migrant inflows are basically built on fragmented rules, ad-hoc management and arbitrary enforcement by the Immigration Department.

The immediate challenge for policymakers is to ensure effective management of migrant workers, beginning with a clear policy on recruitment, placement, monitoring and finally the return of migrant workers to their homeland.

Employers must be held accountable. The lack of management, poor living conditions and health management as well as non-compliance with proper repatriation and replacement procedures only compounds the problem.

A mandatory course for employers should be made a prerequisite for eligibility to apply for foreign workers.

R.S. DAVID Petaling Jaya