Malaysia Eases Workers Ban After Criticism For Clampdown

Additional Reporting By Kazi Mahmood, IOL South Asia Correspondent

Kuala Lumpur, August 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Malaysian government has eased restrictions on employing Indonesian workers in the construction sector amidst mounting criticism for its whipping illegals, news agencies reports from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, August 13.

The decision to lift the ban on Indonesian workers came a month after industry representatives warned of dire consequences if departing illegal workers were not replaced immediately, Bernama and Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agencies said.

In Jakarta, the news was received with gratitude.

The largest Muslim nation on earth supplies over half a million workers to Malaysia, many are illegals and given amnesty to leave Malaysia by the 31st of July this year.

The ban on illegal workers was bound to have terrible economic and social consequences to Jakarta, sources told IslamOnline on Tuesday.

According to Immigration Department spokesperson Ahmad Shukri Abdul Majid, the Malaysian government has agreed to consider approving permits for employers to bring in Indonesian workers.

Meanwhile, Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) vice-president Patrick Wong welcomed the government's move to reconsider the earlier ban on recruiting Indonesian workers except in plantations and as domestic helpers, Malaysiakini.com reported.

The construction industry has been hard hit by the government hurry to reduce the illegal immigrant population in the country. It cited possible social chaos if the workers were to remain in the country.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, during a recent visit to Indonesia flatly refused Indonesian President’s request to reconsider the workers ban. He said his country needed stability.

During the four-month amnesty announced by the government prior to the implementating of the immigration laws on August 1, some 300,000 illegal immigrants left the country. Out of this group, 42.4 percent were employed as construction workers.

Under the amended Immigration Act, illegal immigrants found guilty of an offence are liable to a maximum fine of RM10,000, a jail term not exceeding five years and up to six strokes of the cane.

On Saturday, August 10, four illegal immigrants of Indonesian nationality were found guilty of illegal entry into Malaysia and sentenced to six months jail and two strokes of the cane each.

On Tuesday, pressure was mounting against the Malaysian government for its handling of illegal immigrants.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) has condemned the caning sentence meted out to illegal immigrants as inhuman and ineffective.

“Whipping someone with a cane is cruel, inhuman and degrading. International standards make clear that such treatment constitutes torture. Such a punishment should have no place in today’s world,” said Tuesday AI in a press statement reported by AFP.

Caning sentences have been made mandatory for illegal immigrants found to be in offence under the amended Immigration Act that took effect on August 1.

AI also expressed concern over the possibility that hundreds more undocumented workers and asylum seekers will be whipped over their illegal presence in Malaysia.

According to the human rights watchdog, the threat of being caned is unlikely to be effective in deterring economic migrants or asylum seekers from entering the country.

Indonesian labor activists also joined the cohorts of protesters, urging the Malaysian government to adopt a “realistic” approach in reducing the number of foreign workers in the country.

The Consortium for Indonesia Migrant Workers’ Defense, or Kopbumi, said the Malaysian government should stop its repressive measures.

Indonesian immigrants form the largest group of undocumented migrant workers in Malaysia, numbering up to an estimated one million persons, followed by Bangladeshi migrant workers.