Immigration d-g: Employers, not authorities to blame for illegal worker crackdown

PETALING JAYA: Authorities are merely enforcing the law when cracking down on illegal foreign workers, says Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali (pic).

The Immigration Department director-general said employers should abide by the law when hiring workers.

"I admit Malaysia still needs foreign workers but employers must play their part and follow the nation's rules and regulations when hiring them," he said on Sunday (July 8).

He added that any criticism of authorities who were merely performing their duty according to the rule of law was uncalled for.

Mustafar was commenting on criticism by Malaysian Bar president George Varughese over enforcement operations being carried out currently against illegal foreign workers.

Varughese had said that the Malaysian Bar was troubled by the mass arrest of migrants since July 1, which is part of the Government's crackdown on undocumented migrants.

"If there are too many foreigners in the country, law enforcement agencies will be blamed for the so-called lack of action. We are also blamed when taking action against illegal immigrants," Mustafar said.

He said regulations and opportunities to hire workers legally are in place, and as such, every party must adhere to all the requirements of the Home Ministry and the Government.

On Friday (July 6) Varughese called on the Government to recognise that a significant number of migrant workers are undocumented through no fault of their own.

"Many undocumented migrant workers remain so because the Government provide no avenue for them to independently legalise their status.

"The process of renewing their work permits, legalising their work status, and getting rehired by their employer, had to and could only be done by employers via selected private companies which were appointed by the Government," he added.