Immigration director-general Mustafar Ali said yesterday the proposal came up in feedback from the road transport department (JPJ) following various traffic offences committed repeatedly by immigrant workers, such as having no driving licence and road tax and using fake documents.
“Although the number of immigrant workers committing traffic offences is small, we cannot compromise even if they carry a valid (work) permit.
“They can be deported if they continue to commit traffic offences,” he said at a press conference after an engagement with representatives of the JPJ, police and Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF).
Asked whether similar action could be taken against expatriates, Mustafar said the immigration department would not compromise if the JPJ records show that they were repeat offenders.
Asked to comment on the Indonesian maid who died after alleged abuse by her employer, Mustafar said the immigration department blacklisted employers who ill-treated their workers.
“If they have offences on record, surely they will not be allowed to recruit workers, not only maids but also workers in other sectors,” he said.
He also said that employers could also be blacklisted for abusing the work permits of their workers.
The 21-year-old Indonesian maid, who was allegedly abused at the employer’s house in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, died Sunday when under treatment at the Bukit Mertajam Hospital.
On the collaboration with the MCPF, Mustafar said the immigration department would work with the NGO in the prevention of crime involving foreigners, particularly foreign students at institutions of higher learning.
MCPF senior vice-chairman Lee Lam Thye, who was present at the press conference, said the MCPF would appoint an immigration officer to the committee of the Crime Prevention Clubs that had been set up at every institution of higher learning in the country.