PUTRAJAYA: The government will be launching the Illegal Immigrant Recalibration Plan encompassing two main components — Return Recalibration Programme and the Labour Recalibration Programme — which would be implemented from Nov 16 to June 30 next year for illegal immigrants who are in the country.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the Return Recalibration Programme allows illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin voluntarily subject to specific stipulated conditions.
The Labour Recalibration Programme regularises illegal immigrants in the country as foreign workers who could be employed by eligible employers subject to stringent conditions determined by the government through the Immigration Department and the Peninsular Malaysia Labour Department (JTKSM), he said.
“We are still freezing new foreign workers to Malaysia and it is still going on.
“The plan is for illegal immigrants in the country who wish to work legally and for those who want to return to their countries of origin to do so. We are giving a period up to June 30,” he said when launching the Illegal Immigrant Recalibration Plan at the Home Ministry here yesterday.
Hamzah said the plan would be implemented by the Immigrant Department with the strategic cooperation of JTKSM as well as other government agencies without involving a vendor or third party.
Through this plan, Hamzah said the government is expected to collect RM95 million from compounds and other payments imposed on illegal immigrants and employers.
“In the uncertain economic landscape due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government would be carrying out strategic assessment on the plan by evaluating the positive and negative effects of its implementation,” he said.
Due consideration would also be given from the aspect of data distribution as well as demography of illegal immigrants in Malaysia for comprehensive enforcement as outlined in the Holistic Plan on Enforcement Against Illegal Immigrant introduced since early this year.
“The data collection of illegal immigrants would be coordinated via information submitted by illegal immigrants and employers during the programme registration,” he said.
Hamzah also gave assurance that the manpower programme offer for illegal immigrants who are in Malaysia would not threaten the market or job opportunities for locals.
“Employment opportunities for local workers are assured subject to the policy on ration of local worker to foreign worker in effect now,” he said, adding that the government gives priority to local workers to fill workforce vacancies in all sectors of the economy.
Hamzah said the four sectors, namely construction, manufacturing, plantation and agriculture are allowed to employ illegal immigrants during the implementation of the Illegal immigrant Recalibration Plan.
“For the time being, only employers operating in the four sectors called 3D — dangerous, difficult and dirty — are allowed to take in illegal immigrants as workers,” he said, adding that the plan is only for illegal immigrants from 15 countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh, among others.
Hamzah said an Illegal immigrant Recalibration Plan Implementation Steering Committee, headed by Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, has been set up.
The committee comprises members of various agencies such as the Human Resource Ministry (MoHR), Immigration Department, JTKSM as well as several other related agencies with the role to monitor and regulate the implementation of the Illegal Immigrant Recalibration Plan.
A Special Committee, jointly chaired by the Home Minister and Human Resource Minister, to discuss foreign worker affairs will meet every three months, he said.
The minister-level Special Committee would also discuss the need to expand the Illegal Immigrant Recalibration Plan to other sectors as well as the policy on expatriates. The first meeting of the committee is scheduled on Dec 3, 2020, he said.
The Home Ministry and MoHR agreed to integrate and share data to manage the affairs of foreign workers including standardising salaries through a joint e-wages system and the matter would be discussed in the ministerial special committee in future, he said.
“Employers should take the opportunity of the plan implementation to register existing illegal immigrants in the country as manpower resources in all sectors of the economy involved,” said Hamzah.
Also present was Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan and Immigration Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud. ‒ Bernama
