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?
<p>Immigration Department enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said employers
had three months to do so from Feb 23.</p>
<p>"This arrangement is specially done to allow employers to legally hire
workers who were repatriated during the amnesty period.</p>
<p>"During the three months, employment agents are not allowed to go and
bring back the workers. This is to avoid human smuggling," he said. </p>
<p>However, domestic maid agents are exempted from this ruling. </p>
<p>Ishak said employers would have to obtain the foreign worker application forms
at the Immigration Department before getting an approval letter from the department.
</p>
<p>"They will then have to go to the Indonesian Embassy here to submit the
job description and employment contract before going over to Indonesia,"
he said after a press conference by Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri
Aseh Che Mat here yesterday. </p>
<p>Aseh said five of the centres – in Belawan, Dumai, Tanjung Uban, Nusa Tenggara
Barat (Lombok) and Nusa Tenggara Timur (Kupang) – start operations on Feb 23.
</p>
<p>The rest of the centres will begin operations on March 1. </p>
<p>Previously, the Home Affairs Ministry announced that 14 centres would be set
up in Indonesia but the centres were reduced to 11, based on the current needs.
</p>
<p>Earlier, Aseh and his Indonesian counterpart held the first working committee
meeting after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held talks in Putrajaya two days ago. </p>
<p>Indonesian Department of Justice and Human Rights Immigration director-general
M. Iman Santoso said they would work with the Indonesian Home Affairs Ministry
to identify illegal workers who had returned voluntarily during the amnesty
period. </p>
<p>"For those with passports, we will still ask for their real names because
there are many who had entered Malaysia with false documents," he said.
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