Stop criminalising migrant workers, prosecute those profiting illegally from them

TENAGANITA is deeply concerned by the June 25, 2026, immigration operation in Port Klang which resulted in the detention of 270 migrant workers of various nationalities for alleged immigration offences ("270 foreign workers held in immigration dragnet at two factories", The Star).

Once again, enforcement appears to have focused almost exclusively on migrant workers while the employers who recruited, employed, and benefited from their labour remain largely absent from public scrutiny.

The Immigration Department has reminded employers to ensure that foreign workers possess valid temporary employment passes (PLKS) and are employed at the approved workplace, warning that necessary action will be taken against violations.

But what does "necessary action" actually mean?

Will employers merely receive fines, or will they be investigated, prosecuted, and held criminally accountable where offences have been committed?

The reality is simple.

A migrant worker does not issue his or her own work permit.

A migrant worker does not renew his or her own employment pass.

A migrant worker does not determine where he or she is assigned to work.

These responsibilities lie squarely with employers, who exercise significant control over workers' immigration and employment status.

If workers are found without valid documentation because employers failed to renew permits, transferred workers unlawfully, abandoned them, or otherwise breached their legal obligations, why are the workers the ones being arrested, detained, prosecuted and ultimately deported?

Malaysia cannot continue treating migrant workers as criminals for circumstances over which they have little or no control.

Many of these workers have spent years contributing to Malaysia's industries, generating millions of ringgit in profits for companies that depend on their labour. Yet when there are failures in compliance, it is the workers who lose their freedom, their livelihoods, and often their dignity, while employers continue operating their businesses.

An employer who profits from undocumented labour should not walk away with a fine while the worker walks into a detention depot.

The detention of the 270 migrant workers also raises broader concerns about what happens next.

Of the group, 191 are from Bangladesh. If the Bangladeshi workers are prosecuted under the Immigration Act, detained, and then deported as immigration offenders, does this simply create vacancies for another round of recruitment from Bangladesh, at a time when both governments are discussing the reopening and expansion of labour recruitment?

If so, what message does this send?

That workers can be criminalised, deported, and replaced, while those responsible for their employment face few meaningful consequences?

This is precisely why immigration enforcement must be accompanied by genuine employer accountability. If employers knowingly violate immigration and labour laws, they should face thorough investigation, prosecution, and meaningful penalties, not administrative fines that simply become another cost of doing business. A penalty without meaningful accountability does little to deter future violations or protect workers from exploitation.

Justice cannot mean arresting those with the least power while protecting those with the greatest responsibility. A system that criminalises workers while excusing those who control their immigration status is not enforcing the law, it is institutionalising injustice.

Tenaganita calls on the government of Malaysia to:

> Investigate and prosecute employers, company directors, and labour contractors where immigration and labour laws have been violated.

> Ensure employers who repeatedly breach the law face meaningful sanctions that reflect the seriousness of their offences.

> Recognise that many workers become undocumented because of employer negligence, abuse, or systemic failures, and ensure they are assessed as potential victims rather than automatically treated as offenders.

> Ensure immigration enforcement upholds justice, proportionality, and accountability, instead of disproportionately punishing those with the least power.

The true measure of immigration enforcement is not how many workers are arrested, but whether those who profit from breaking the law are held accountable.

Until then, justice remains selective.

GLORENE A. DAS

Executive director

Tenaganita