Minister: Employers complicit in influx of illegal migrants
Human Resource Minister Richard Riot blames businesses for specifically asking agencies for foreign workers who are then not registered with authorities.
(FMT) – For every 10 legal foreign workers in Malaysia there are seven undocumented foreign workers in the country, Human Resource Minister Richard Riot told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said the illegal workers are brought in by agencies after receiving a request from employers.
“That is just one way illegal workers are coming into the country. Employers are working hand in hand with agencies,” he said in answer to a question from Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi (Temerloh-PAS).
The minister also said some of these illegals worked in restaurants and supermarkets among other businesses.
He added that at present, there are 1.9 million documented foreign workers in the country.
Nasruddin had asked of the measures taken by the government to stop the influx of illegal immigrants in the country.
Riot said the government will continue to give priority to locals to work in various fields.
Towards that end, he said the government has implemented various training programmes to upscale the skill of Malaysian workers, with the aim of achieving 35 per cent of local skilled workers by 2035.
