Employers, not Putrajaya, flip-floppers on foreign labour woes, says deputy minister

There is no "flip-flop" in Putrajaya's decision to suspend the intake of foreign workers a day after signing an agreement with Bangladesh to recruit its workers, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed says, adding that employers are the ones who had contributed to the messy situation with their high reliance on cheap migrant labour.

"The ones who flip-flopped are employers. One moment, they say 'too many, don't take the Bangladeshis', and when we announce the freeze, they say they need workers.

"The public have also become confused. (The freeze) is also to help the government assess the views of the public," he told The Malaysian Insider as Putrajaya came under fire for confusion over its recent announcements regarding foreign labour.

Putrajaya and Dhaka on Thursday signed a deal to recruit Bangladeshi workers, amid confusion over the 1.5 million figure that was first announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in June last year.

Only in recent weeks did Putrajaya begin to say that the 1.5 million was the number of workers on offer by Bangladesh to recruiting countries.

On Friday, one day after the deal was signed, Zahid, who is also home minister, announced a freeze on foreign worker intake from all source countries, including Bangladesh.

Nur Jazlan (pic) said recruitment would resume after the government had completed the Rehiring Programme for Illegal Foreign Workers, and assured that the number of Bangladeshi workers coming in would not be 1.5 million.

"Through the rehiring programme, we will ensure that undocumented migrant workers in the country have the chance to be registered. This will help us legalise some of them, and then only will we take in new workers."

The freeze and rehiring programme will not affect Putrajaya's deal with Bangladesh as it was an agreement to last for the next three to five years.

"The ones who made this offer is the Bangladesh government and they did so for the welfare of their citizens and to prevent them from getting cheated by agents," he said, referring to previous recruitment methods that used middlemen before the present government-to-government arrangement.

The freeze would also have no impact on foreign worker applications that had already been approved and were in the process of being executed, he added.

"For those that are already in process, it is only fair (to let them continue). Furthermore, the agreement in the memorandum of understanding (with Bangladesh) is not in effect yet."

Employers responsible

Employer and manufacturing groups have reacted to the news of the suspension with surprise, saying it would cause difficulties for businesses.

But Nur Jazlan blamed employers for contributing to high numbers of undocumented migrant workers in the country, estimated at around two million, saying that some bosses failed to follow procedures that resulted in foreign workers getting cheated and stranded.

"In the past there were those who brought in Bangladeshi workers but not through government-to-government arrangements. Many ended up getting cheated.

"If employers are good bosses, will workers with permits leave them? So who is causing this problem of illegal workers? Employers, too.

"Because they don't follow procedures and do what is required for foreign workers. Some promise good wages but don't pay.

"The government is only an intermediary, the government can only help to facilitate, so it is not fair to blame the government only," Nur Jazlan said in response to claims that Putrajaya's poor policies were at fault for the large numbers of undocumented foreign workers.

The deputy minister also held employers responsible for the large numbers of foreign workers due to their reluctance to hire locals.

"Employers are the ones who don't want to accept local workers, they are the ones who 'flip-flopped'. They don't want to pay minimum wage and prefer to pay foreigners because they want to make their work easier, (and) have more profits.

"We want to help their businesses but they have to give and take. Wages for local workers have to be appropriate. Don't blame the government. The ones with double standards, with flip-flop, are employers; they want things cheap," he said. – February 21, 2016.