PETALING JAYA: The employer involved in the recruitment of the 171 Bangladeshi workers detained since Dec 20 will be summoned by the Human Resources ministry, says Steven Sim.
He said that further investigations will be conducted on the agency which employed the workers, who are all being held by the Immigration Department after they walked to the Bayu Damai police station to lodge a report against their agent.
"In the Johor case, employer involved will be called up this week for an investigation," said the Human Resources Minister in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday (Dec 25).
Sim then added that he had instructed his ministry to assist the workers to find jobs on humanitarian grounds.
However, he added that this matter is beyond the purview of the Human Resources ministry.
He added that he will meet Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on improving migrant policies; Sim then said that the hiring was to support businesses, which should not be a business by itself.
Sim said this hours after Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Hussin Zamora confirmed the arrests of the workers.
On the workers, Supt Hussin said that they were legally brought into Malaysia and added that the agent has yet to provide them with work.
"The Bangladeshi nationals decided to walk to the Bayu Damai police station which was 10km from the accomodation to lodge a police report on Dec 20," he said.
Supt Hussin said the workers did not manage to lodge a police report after it was discovered that the agent has yet to find employment for them.
In a twist of events, he said a police report made by the army against the foreigners was received on the same day (Dec 20).
“The foreigners, aged 19 to 43 years old, were then hauled up by the Immigration Department.
“They were detained at the department’s headquarters in Setia Tropika for investigations under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63,” he said.
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