Ministry to check on missing RM892 million
O Amount was collected by Immigration Department from illegal immigrants yet to get work permits
PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry will check with the Immigration Department regarding money collected from foreign workers under a rehiring programme, where many who paid were not issued work permits.
“We cannot confirm yet on the amount collected as a third party (another company) was also involved in the exercise,” Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman said yesterday.
He said the rehiring programme was carried out during the Barisan Nasional administration while the money collected would normally be centralised under the Finance Ministry.
Mohd Azis was responding to a statement earlier by a migrant body that questioned the Immigration Department on the money it collected five years ago from foreign workers under the rehiring programme.
Tenaganita director Joseph Paul Malaimauv said the sum collected from 744,000 undocumented persons under the exercise was about RM892.8 million.
He said the amount collected was from those reported to have registered for the programme.
Under the programme, initiated in 2016, each applicant needed to pay RM1,200.
It was meant to serve as an avenue to provide illegal foreign workers valid working permits to fulfil labour requirements for certain sectors, including manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture and services.
The programme ended on June 30, 2018. “In theory, the rehiring programme was a commendable effort by the government to manage the situation created by the large number of undocumented foreign workers.
“However, its implementation was riddled with inefficiency. We want closure on this issue. One way is to have an independent inquiry on how the programme was implemented and why there are hundreds of thousands who remain undocumented although they have paid the fees.
“Tenaganita hopes to meet the authorities to resolve and bring closure to this issue.”
On Jan 1, it was reported that about 165,040 illegalss out of 195,471 registered under the B4G amnesty exercise had been deported to their respective countries.