Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 (Bernama) — The move to implement online renewal of the foreign worker temporary permit (PLKS) for all types of employment beginning Jan 1 was to check abuse by various parties.
According to the Home Ministry (KDN), renewal of the PLKS online would also shorten the application process to one or two days compared to two to four weeks and to reduce crowding at the Immigration Department’s counters.
Through this system, employers need not depend on runners for the application, a ministry statement said here today.
The ministry also said the service charge for the MyEG online system of RM38 was reasonable to cover the cost of the operating system and service charges such as online service scope, registration ID and employer password, payment for door-to-door PLKS delivery and confiscation of payment if the worker turned problematic.
KDN said the decision to implement the online renewal of PLKS through MyEG had been made more than two years ago when an agreement was signed between the government and MY E G Sdn Bhd and began implementation in stages since Dec 24, 2012.
“The announcement on the matter was made two years ago and KDN had received various comments from the industry and others from time to time to ensure the move could raise the quality of service and integrity of all related parties,” he said.
Two days ago, the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) expressed their dissatisfaction with the new measure which commenced operation on Jan 5 and alleged it affected their business.
The online renewal of PLKS started with the manufacturing and service sectors on Dec 1 followed by the agriculture, plantation and construction sectors on Dec 17 and for all types of employment including domestic maids beginning Jan 1.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian National Association of Employment Agencies (Pikap) today alleged the new PLKS application process was burdening employers and was not efficient.
Its president, Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan said employers had to shoulder higher cost for workers with the RM38 service charge for each application and it was difficult for those who did not go online or use the internet.
“Pikap is asking the government to revert to a dual system of manual (counter) and MyEG,” he told a press conference here today.
He said KDN should also hand over PLKS processing to 360 private employment agencies (APS) registered with the Manpower Department and Immigration Department to facilitate the process application.
“The Immigration Department could also reopen the counters to process PLKS to enable APS to decide whether to use the service of immigration officers or MyEg, he added.
Raja Zulkefley hoped only APS registered with the Manpower Department and Immigration Department would be allowed to patronise the Immigration counter service if it was reopened.
Source: Bernama
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