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KOTA KINABALU: A proposal to issue temporary work permits for undocumented immigrants will only apply to Sabah and Sarawak if there are urgent requests from foreign workers in the plantation and construction sector, a federal minister said today.
Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Minister Maximus Ongkili said the temporary passes were a short-term measure to alleviate labor shortages, particularly in peninsular Malaysia.
“In the case of Sabah, an ongoing discussion between the department of Sabah and Sarawak affairs is taking place in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Interior Ministry for the creation of a proposed special committee,” he said today in a statement.
“This is to ensure that the management and outcome of the operation will also be part of the strategy to reduce the presence of illegal immigrants in the state.
“There is also a very high incidence of Covid-19 cases affecting most of the plantation and construction sectors in East Malaysia,” he said.
Earlier today, Chief Deputy Minister Jeffrey Kitingan said the proposal was only aimed at solving the shortage on the peninsula and not in Sabah.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had said yesterday that Putrajaya was considering issuing temporary work passes for undocumented migrants already in the country, as oil palm and rubber plantations were severely short of labor.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Energy have been asked to study how to implement this without causing problems in the future.
Ongkili said that many states had been severely affected by the pandemic and many workers had left the job market.
“Given that the number of illegal workers in detention centers is high, and for some states, beyond the carrying capacity of such centers, the government is considering what has been practiced many times in the past.
“This is a form of regularization, whereby the private sector that requests foreign workers can request the hiring of workers through the immigration and labor departments directly from the detention centers, or from the national labor market,” he said.
He added that this provided that they comply with the strict procedures and conditions established by the Ministry of the Interior. A detailed discussion between the Ministry of the Interior, the Department of Labor and the Sabah government would be needed before the proposed exercise is extended to Sabah.
Ongkili, who is president of PBS, said the party urged Sabahans not to believe the rumors about temporary work permits.
“PBS has no problem supporting the noble intent of the program, provided it is implemented in accordance with immigration and labor laws, is well managed, and is conducted transparently. PBS will make sure these strict conditions are met, ”he said.
He said the work permit proposal would help the government get these illegal workers to register during the amnesty period.
