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?
State Immigration director Mohd Zahari Hassan said his department will conduct
operations to nab the illegal workers after the Sunday deadline.
<p>He said the operations will be jointly carried out by the state Customs, anti-smuggling
unit and Rela officers..</p>
<p>"Our checks show that most of the illegal Thai workers were employed to
do daytime jobs.</p>
<p>"They cross back to their side of the border after work," he said.</p>
<p>He estimated that the government was losing RM2mil a year in unpaid levies.
</p>
<p>The levy for each farmhand is RM160 for every three months, and the levy for
a commercial shop assistant is RM410 for every three months, he said. </p>
<p>He said there are more than 600 illegal Thais working along the border areas
here.</p>
<p>"However, only 350 of these workers had been registered," he said.</p>
<p>Mohd Zahari said the department had been promoting awareness among the local
employers to legitimatise their workers.</p>
<p>Most of the Thais work at the Mara bazaar areas here and for Felda settlers
in Lubuk Sireh and Rimba Mas, here, he said.
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