Malaysia to improve foreign worker recruitment policies

This integrated system would manage and control the recruitment of foreign workers and integrate data across ministries and departments, and was one of the recommendations submitted to Parliament by PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh.  

The other was for the two ministries to ensure that applications for foreign worker quotas were made via the ePPAx and MyIMMs systems where the results were given in a reasonable span of time.  

Also, PAC said no “intermediaries” should be involved in foreign worker quota applications to the Home Ministry, and proposed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) conducted investigations on this issue, Wong said in a statement.  

Other recommendations by PAC include no exemptions to be granted for the recruitment of foreign workers under the freeze sub-sector and the need for the Royal Malaysian Police to expedite the investigation into allegations of theft and misuse of user ID in the MyIMMs system. 

PAC also recommended that the Foreign Workers’ Medical Examination (Fomema) be carried out within 30 days upon the arrival of the foreign workers, and stern action should be taken against employers who fail to comply with the rule. 

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KDN, through the Immigration Department, should continue with the implementation of the Alternative to Detention pilot project for unaccompanied and separated children which was initially planned to be implemented last April, said Wong.  

He also said KDN should work with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry for the placement of women and children from detention depots to centres supervised by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Council (MAPO), according to Malay Mail.