‘PH will rid country of illegals within a month’

THE task at hand may be monumental, but the government is confident that it can deliver what it said the previous government failed to accomplish — rid the country of illegal immigrants.

(NST) – While “official” statistics put their number at just under a million, many, including those dealing with foreign migrants in the country, have maintained that the number could be well over two million.

The Home Ministry said the government, which is more than two months old, believed the task was not only doable, but could be achieved in just over a month.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman said the approach this time would spare the kid gloves.

Errant employers and their illegal foreign workers, he said, would not only be rounded up and issued penalties, but they would also be charged in court.

Employers harbouring immigrants without travel papers are liable to whipping.

“There will be no more compromises on illegals and their employers,” he told the New Straits Times.

It was in the same breath that Azis criticised the previous Barisan Nasional-led government for its failure in dealing with the influx of illegal foreign workers into the country.

“The previous government made many promises, but they did not walk the talk.

“There was little enforcement in the past.

“The situation in Masjid India (in Kuala Lumpur) is one example of how serious the issue is.

“If you visit the area, it feels like you are no longer in Malaysia,” he said.

Azis said Pakatan Harapan was clear on its target in addressing the issue of illegal immigrants once and for all and was determined to finish the job.

Part of PH’s election manifesto was to reduce the dependency on cheap foreign labour so that Malaysians seeking job opportunities were not forced to deal with depressed salaries.

He said the announcement by Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali on Saturday that the government would end its 3-plus-1 programme by Aug 30 was a warning to illegal foreign workers and their employers to take heed of what would follow.

“PH is a new government and we will prove to the people that we mean business.

“We want to clean up Malaysia.

“Of course, this is not an easy task and we know it,” said Azis, adding that the government had given ample time and opportunities for illegal workers and their employers to come forward to surrender themselves through the 3-plus-1 programme, where they would only be issued a RM300 compound and another RM100 for a special visa for the labourers to return to their home countries, without being charged.

He said the move to end the programme on Aug 31 was in conjunction with National Day.

Mustafar, in making the announcement, said the Immigration Department would intensify its operation to detain illegal immigrants and their employers.

More than 3,000 illegal immigrants had been arrested so far for various offences nationwide in Op Mega, which was launched on July 1.

Some 100,000 foreigners have been checked during operations by the department’s enforcement division as part of efforts to “free” Malaysia of illegal immigrants by Aug 30.

Immigration director of operation (enforcement) Saravana Kumar Marimuthu said 24,000 illegal immigrants and 629 employers had been arrested for various cases under the Immigration Act.

He told the NST that the division had mounted 8,000 operations nationwide, since January.

He said under Op Mega, between July 1 and 19, 1,130 operations were carried out, with 3,336 illegals and 64 employers arrested.

“The Immigration Department will cooperate with other authorities, including the police, to work against illegal entry into the country.”

The department, he said, had been engaging with foreign missions in Malaysia, mainly from Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Vietnam, as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to encourage illegals to leave the country under the 3-plus-one programme.