Firm supposedly providing foreign workers services ‘cleanses’ its website

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian firm, which has come under scrutiny for claiming it provides welfare services and protection to migrant workers, has taken down logos of foreign missions and the Immigration Department that were displayed on its website.

The company had earlier implied it had links to these embassies and authorities through diagrams and promotional materials on its website.

The removal comes after a Jan 11 report by The Star in which Indonesian Ambassador Her–mono dispelled any involvement with the company.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh, when contacted, told The Star: “We’re looking into it”.

Although not spelt out, it appears that the company was providing middleman services between authorities such as the Immigration Department and the offices of several embassies of foreign labour-source countries.

The company also claimed to have a database of those detained by the Immigration Department.

Among the source countries listed on the website were Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

The company also claimed to have entered into an agreement with an official of the Nepal Foreign Employment Board to provide protection and welfare services to workers from the country for a fee of US$45 (RM200) for each person.

The managing director of the company had told The Star that the implementation of the agreement, which was supposed to come into effect on Jan 1, had been put on hold due to protests by several recruitment agencies.

He had claimed that the deal was only between the company and the Nepali government and did not involve the Malaysian government.

However, a source from the Nepal embassy said they had no official information about the agreement.