Human resources minister V Sivakumar said the ministry does not want employers to simply recruit migrant workers if there are no jobs waiting for them.

He said this when asked whether the ministry would consider vetting employers more stringently following reports of migrant workers left stranded in the country.

“We (ministry) will make sure such incidents like this will not repeat.

“I have ordered the labour department to ensure that migrant workers brought into the country are employed,” Sivakumar told reporters after officiating the National Human Capital Conference and Exhibition (NHCCE) 2023 here today.

Last month, the labour department said it would sanction firms, and withdraw licences from recruitment agencies involved in hiring migrant workers who found themselves stranded without jobs upon arrival.

It also promised to act against recruitment companies found to have misused government quotas and licences for hiring migrant workers.

In May, Reuters reported that hundreds of South Asian migrants were stranded without work for months after failing to find jobs promised to them by recruitment agents in exchange for thousands of dollars in fees.