FMM vice-president Nathan Suppiah also said foreign worker management must come under the human resources ministry and not the home ministry as at present.

He said a comprehensive policy to chart the type and number of workers, including foreign workers, was required to ensure economic goals were met.

“Malaysia does not have such a holistic labour policy. It must also be handled by the human resources ministry, as is the practice in other countries.

“Therefore, having the home affairs ministry to decide on foreign workers required by the various industry sectors is not logical. The home ministry can deal with illegal foreign workers but not the foreign workers policy,” he told FMT.

He was commenting on Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin saying that the government’s rehiring programme for undocumented workers would be stopped.

Muhyiddin said the government did not want to make what was illegal legal and that it also wanted locals to be given priority in employment.

Commenting on this, Suppiah said, industries had not asked for any rehiring programme. “By rehiring programme I mean the legalisation of foreign nationals who had entered the country legally and subsequently became illegals through overstaying and job hopping.

“I agree with the home minister that there should not be any rehiring from now on. However, the current rehiring exercise, with a June 2018 deadline, should be concluded as the employees and their employers have registered as required by the authorities.

“This will also reduce the number of illegals in the country and save time and money in hunting for the illegals through raids. As for those illegals who have not registered as required, they should be identified and deported back to their country of origin after due process.”

Suppiah said it was the job of the relevant government agencies to ensure no person was allowed into the country if he was not financially supportable and was here for no approved reason.

He said reliance on foreign workers was not an issue peculiar to Malaysia. “Foreign workers are in every continent but they have stricter immigration procedures, unlike in Malaysia where it is too complicated.”

On the issue of minimum wage, he hoped the ministry of human resources would hold discussions with all stakeholders, including employers and unions.

“There is a need to understand why industries are concerned about the potential increase in the minimum wage,” he said.