No Lift On Ban On Foreign Workers In Malaysia Until Employers Stop Using Agents
The government will not lift the blanket ban on the intake of foreign workers until it is convinced that employers will stop using agents and take full responsibility over the welfare of their workers.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said industry players especially those in the Small Medium Enterprises (SME) prefer using agents to hire workers in order to escape from being held accountable for their welfare.
“The blanket ban will not be lifted until employers especially the SMEs change their attitude.
“They are asking for more foreign workers to be allowed into the country despite the current numbers that we have, but they refuse to take responsibility over the welfare of their workers.
“So the ban will remain until we are convinced that they have stopped using agents’ services,” he said in a talk held at the International University and College (Inti) today.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on March 12 announced that the government had decided to stop the recruitment of new foreign workers including the initial plan of bringing in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers.
Following the temporary freeze, sectors that are heavily dependent on foreign workers such as manufacturing complained that they did not have enough workers to continue their operations.
News source: NST Online