He said only about two thousand employers and 12,000 workers had registered under the Rehiring Programme since it was launched on Feb 15.

“The employers have been slow in registering their workers.

“I managed to catch a lot of illegal workers during my 20 minute walkabout at the One Utama Shopping Centre,” Nur Jazlan told reporters after conducting checks at the shopping complex here today.

The Rehiring Programme is aimed at providing an opportunity to regularise illegal foreign workers in the country. It entails issuing of valid work permits to meet labour demands in specific sectors and it is done after tight screening.

According to the ministry, the programme, which was specially drawn up to meet the requests of employers to fill vacancies in the permitted sectors, would also enable the government to know how many illegal foreign workers were in the country for the purpose of monitoring and security.

Nur Jazlan said the ministry was also looking into charging employers under the Immigration Act 1959/63 or Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007, which deals with mistreatment of foreign workers.

“I want to stress that the employers will not escape stern action if they are found to be using illegal workers. The Immigration Department will no longer tolerate and just issue compounds.”

In his 20 minute walkabout, Nur Jazlan interviewed several workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, who, he claimed, were there illegally.

This included a worker in a food kiosk with a permit to work as a maid, a restaurant worker who only had a student permit, and a janitor who simply claimed he was from Acheh and had no permit.

The Pulai MP said he would continue his walkabouts and wanted the Home Ministry and its agencies to focus on the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru as there were a lot of illegal workers in these areas.