PUTRAJAYA, Aug 19 – Applications recruitment of foreign workers in the future will no longer involve the agent, otherwise the employer must submit the application online, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He said the foreign workers management system online, which will be introduced soon, shorten the time to bring in foreign workers.
“The conventional application by the employer must present to the Local Approval Centres, Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) takes about three to six months. But online application will be approved 48 hours after the application meets the conditions set by the ministry. We have made an attempt to find this system more effective,” said Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Minister of the Interior.
“The application ‘single window synchronization’ set up so as not to overlap and interconnect different between the two ministries (Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Human Resources),” he said after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants first after his appointment as deputy prime minister in a cabinet reshuffle on 28 July.
Asked whether the ministry monitored the application process, Ahmad Zahid said: “The employer will be use an online form to summit their application. In the same time, the government will examine the request of them which how many foreign workers required.
“After that, the ministry concerned will be connected to source countries have a list of registered workers to provide the requested number of workers as well as some prerequisites such as biometric data and migrant workers need to be observed before the delivery is made,” he explained.
On the fate of the agent registered with the ministry, Ahmad Zahid said if the online application system was introduced, employers no longer need to spend money as the government provides it free of charge. In addition to online application, Ahmad Zahid said the committee, which met for two hours it was decided two other matters relating to foreign workers to meet the needs of industrial and economic growth.
The meeting decided that the employer is obliged to provide accommodation to foreign workers under the minimum standard set by the government. Provision of accommodation by the employer will be used as a prerequisite for approval of applications for eligible employers to hire foreign workers.
“The placement of the center will be placed in an area of special accommodation with basic amenities such as food, toiletries and a center of worship for different religions on the level of humanity as well as reduce the risk of social problems and crime. The pilot project had been initiated placement in Pengerang, Johor and able to accommodate 10,000 workers in the accommodation centers,” said Ahmad Zahid.
“However, the priorities and the social safety net will be given to local workers to be trained as semi-skilled and skilled workers in certain sectors. This is because foreign workers are doing jobs that do not demand of local people as the work is dirty, dangerous and difficult,” he said.
“The meeting also decided that the employer must comply with the principle of strict liability in the recruitment of foreign workers to ensure that employers are fully responsible for the employment of foreign workers. Accountability starts from the stage of the application, and thus employment of foreign workers to be sent back to their country of origin,” he said.
“Employers should also be held responsible for any retransmission to pass the time and country of origin of migrant workers moving to another employer. The employers who do not fulfill those conditions will be penalized according to the offense committed,” he added.
Meanwhile, Human Resources Minister Datuk Richard Riot, who also attended the meeting said the central placement of migrant workers should be prepared to meet the conditions of an area of 4.5 square meters for a room and one toilet for every five foreign workers.
