Govt to offer amnesty for illegals
By Dharmender Singh, The Star
The Government will soon offer amnesty again to hundreds of thousands of illegal foreign workers, with the chance to return home without facing action.
To control the entry of foreign workers, the levy will also be increased from next year based on their number in each sector and the workers’ skills.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who announced this yesterday, said the integrated biometric identification system would have to be in place before the programme could be implemented.
He said foreigners who entered the country illegally or overstayed after their work permits expired would be offered amnesty once the Home Ministry updated the system.
“The biometric identification system is necessary to ensure that we record the entry of all visitors and workers into the country. It will include work to update and coordinate all hardware, software and data managed by different agencies and ministries.
“We will leave it to the Home Ministry, namely the Immigration Department, to implement it as soon as possible,” Muhyiddin told a news conference after chairing the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Illegal Workers meeting here yesterday.
The amnesty programme was among 50 recommendations made to the Cabinet committee by the Life Laboratory on Issues of Foreign and Illegal Foreign Workers on ways to resolve various related issues.
