Wong Hon Wai called Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to explain why he had given so many special approvals

Malaysiakini / 25 November, 2020

Labour Dept sources: Migrant workers influx due to special approval 'brokers'

Brokers who helped companies secure special approvals to bring in migrant workers are part of the country's immigration problem, sources in the Labour Department said.

These workers then end up in jobs that they were not approved for, the sources said.

Yesterday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that companies had been using middlepersons to lobby the home minister for special approvals to bring in migrant workers.

According to the PAC's transcripts, some of those intermediaries were senior politicians, namely, former deputy home minister Masir Kujat, former Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and Tanjong Karang MP Noh Omar.

Others named were Kok Lanas assemblyperson Mohd Alwi Che Ahmad and Sungai Dua assemblyperson Muhamad Yusoff Mohd Nor.

Combined with approvals made by a special committee, there were 512,315 special approvals given from 2016 to 2018.

This is compared to 416,510 approvals issued through the Immigration Department's job clearing system (JCS) quota.

Masir was still deputy home minister between 2016 and May 2018.

Masir Kujat

"You can say that there are quarters who acted as brokers to get these (special) approvals," the Labour Department sources told Malaysiakini.

"This is among the reasons there's an influx of migrant workers in the country," they added.

The special approvals were supposed to be a mechanism for companies to appeal rejected applications for migrant worker permits.

However, according to the Labour Department sources, there was little oversight on the matter.

"Because this is the authority of the home minister, there is no check and balance, and some (employers) bypass the screening process by using these special approvals.

"The implication on the workers is that the Labour Department doesn't know who their employers are," they added.

The sources said companies that use such tactics usually don't submit reports to the department on their employment of migrants.

Companies that obtain special approval then supply the migrant workers to different jobs than what they applied for, they added. 

"For example, (companies applied for workers) under cleaning services, but supply them to factories instead.

"These employers that supply the workers get monthly payments as outsourcing companies do, but without the licence," the sources said.

Meanwhile, Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Wai called on Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - who was home minister between 2016 and May 2018 - to explain why he had given so many special approvals.

"I ask Zahid to state the reasons he gave the special approvals to mediators, instead of going through the regular process," Wong was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

He also asked the five politicians named in the PAC report as middlepersons to explain their actions.

Wong also called on the National Audit Department to reveal if there were other politicians who acted as intermediaries in securing special approvals from the home minister.

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