PUTRAJAYA: The proposal to allow large companies to bear the deportation costs of illegal immigrants in immigration detention depots will be brought to the Cabinet soon, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
He said in return, the companies would be given a new quota for the employment of foreign workers through strict screening in accordance with the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP).
Hamzah said the proposal would be considered to help industry players obtain the quota of foreign workers faster.
“Let’s say there are 20,000 (illegal immigrants) in the depots, only about 15 per cent can work, others have problems that we do not allow them to work again, so we should send them back.
“If big companies want them (foreign workers) fast, they can take that one, send them back and we allow replacement with one to one ratio,“ he told reporters after holding a meeting with Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan on the management of foreign workers here today.
Meanwhile, Hamzah said the Home Ministry would review the hiring policy of expatriates in strategic collaboration with TalentCorp and the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
He said the last study on the policy was done on Dec 20, 2016 and there was a need for improvement to ensure a balance in meeting human resource needs by prioritising local manpower over foreign labours, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Hamzah, the meeting also agreed that the hiring of foreign workers as goldsmiths would be considered under the Professional Visit Pass (PVP) in an effort to encourage the training of local goldsmiths.
“The service of these foreign goldsmiths is no longer needed once the number of local goldsmiths is sufficient to meet the needs of the industry,“ he said. — Bernama
