In a statement today, Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das questioned how the private agencies were expected to improve the process.
In November last year, home minister Hamzah Zainudin said under the Undocumented Migrant Recalibration Plan, undocumented migrants will be “regularised” so they can become legalised foreign workers, subject to certain conditions.
He also said the programme would be implemented by the Immigration Department, under his ministry, and the Labour Department (human resources ministry) without the involvement of vendors and third parties.
“This about-turn in policy begs an explanation. Is it an admission that the Immigration and Labour Departments are incapable of implementing the programme on their own?” Das asked.
She added that if it was truly necessary to engage private companies, the reasons should be made public in the interests of transparency.
Das said guidelines should also be made clear, and their fees capped and monitored.
She also called for the appointed agencies to be prohibited from sub-contracting their services.
“In the event they do so, they should be held fully responsible for any losses, deception, or exploitation suffered by undocumented migrant workers.
“A transparent, efficient and independent redress mechanism should be put in place to promptly deal with grievances from these workers (and employers) about shortcomings in the implementation of the programme,” she said.
Total costs for the rehiring exercise should also be kept to a minimum so that employers are not burdened.
Otherwise, she said they may subsequently pass the costs on to the migrant workers, citing unofficial sources who have alleged that the cost of rehiring a worker under the programme was about RM7,000 in the non-plantation sector.
Meanwhile, Das also said that the wide scepticism surrounding the programme was justified, based on past experiences of similar legalisation and rehiring exercises endorsed by the government.
She noted that, so far, only 71,500 migrants have registered for the undocumented migrant recalibration programme.
“There is no information on how many of those registered for hiring have successfully obtained their work permits, though unofficially the number is reported to be dismal.
“Unless clear, unequivocal answers are provided to the public, there is no reason not to believe that the recalibration programme will not turn out to be yet another debacle where undocumented migrant workers lose their hard-earned money to unscrupulous agents and corrupt officials.”
She also called for more consultations with both the home and the human resources ministries, together with affected industries, diplomatic missions and civil society on how best to develop and implement the programme.
FMT has reached out to the home ministry for comment.