NIBONG TEBAL, June 4 — The government does not plan to extend the deadline for hiring foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, into the country via the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTM) 2.0, which ended on May 31.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said this was decided upon, as the period given by Malaysia was reasonable for managing all foreign worker procedures.
"When we fixed the date (May 13), we factored in all the meaningful processes from the quota approval, health checks, obtaining the visa, and arranging flight tickets.
"Recently, there was a surge of over 20,000 foreign workers over four days (May 28 to 31) into the country, and when we checked, among those who entered were those who had their visas approved 10 years ago. The issue is why wait till May 31 to bring them (foreign workers) in," he said.
Saifuddin was speaking to the press after attending the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Penang Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak's visit to the Seberang Perai Prison today.
According to the projected number with the recent trend of over 20,000 entries, the country will have more than 2.6 million foreign workers by December this year, exceeding the Economic Planning Unit's 2.5 million target.
He said the influx of foreign workers has reached the target of foreign manpower requirements for the manufacturing, construction, and service sectors.
For the plantation and agriculture sectors, the government will process according to the existing quota approvals for now without involving new approvals and based on the cases.
Earlier, the local media reported that Bangladesh had requested Malaysia extend the entry period for nearly 17,000 Bangladeshi workers who had approved work visas but missed the May 31 deadline.
In another development, Saifuddin said he does not want to interfere in the case of a police escort to a VIP being investigated for the alleged assault of a disabled man. Instead, the case has been handed over to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
"It is a matter for the IGP. I will not interfere; it is up to the IGP,” he said.
On Friday (May 31), Razarudin said the officers involved in the case would be summoned to Bukit Aman to assist in investigations in the near future.
— Bernama
