Immigration op nets 84 employers of foreign illegals
20 July 2017 Print page
PETALING JAYA: The Immigration Department has caught 84 errant employers during its ongoing Ops Mega against the hiring of illegal foreign workers.
Its director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali told reporters that five have been charged in court.
“There will be more brought to court in the coming weeks,” he said.
He said the department would not hesitate to freeze assets of errant employers.
Mustafar noted that while the country requires foreign workers, this has to be done by the book, saying that there is no other option.
“Some come in with tourist visas or student passes, but they are actually here to work. Action will be taken,” he said.
He said that he recently met with the Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and India embassies to discuss the issue of illegals.
“While there are requests to extend the E-Card period, we have maintained that there will be no extension,” he said.
The E-Card is temporary confirmation of employment for illegal workers and has a biometric feature. It is valid until Feb 15 next year, giving employers ample time to register their illegal workers.
The deadline for E-Card registration was June 30.
Mustafar said the embassies agreed that travel tickets for illegals being deported would be paid for by their families or the embassies.
They also agreed to speed up the process of getting travel documents for the deportees, he said.
“It’s a win-win situation because we also don’t want them to be stuck in our cells,” he added.
To date, Ops Mega has netted 3,874 illegal workers nationwide.
In unrelated news, Mustafar said the proposed upgrading of the I-Card for international students in this country would allow it to function as an identification card.
“We discussed this with the other agencies. The features are similar to the E-Card which also has a barcode and serial number.
“This allows us to check whether a person is really a student or not. It can also be used in lieu of a passport (for identification), because we understand that students are afraid of losing their passport,” he said.
The process for obtaining an I-Card begins before a student enters the country, he added.
Source : http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/07/20/immigration-op-nets-84-employers-of-foreign-illegals/#mUGmbQz0o2ZqKRid.99