FMT:
HR ministry must manage foreign worker recruitment, says Zaid
Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim criticises the continued reliance on agents, likening them to ’17th century slave traders’.
Zaid Ibrahim said the failure to dispense with foreign worker recruitment agents goes against the government’s efforts to eradicate corruption and abuse of power.
PETALING JAYA: The human resources ministry should assume direct responsibility for overseeing the influx and management of foreign workers instead of the home ministry, says former law minister Zaid Ibrahim.
“What is the home minister doing about this? Why should the home ministry be responsible for foreign workers? I thought we were a transparent government,” he said in an X (formerly Twitter) posting.
Zaid’s remarks came in the wake of 171 Bangladeshis in Pengerang, Johor being arrested after they participated in a march to lodge a police report against their agents for failing to secure promised jobs.
Although the case fell outside the jurisdiction of the human resources ministry, its minister Steven Sim told FMT that “we will aid the Bangladeshis on humanitarian grounds”.
Sim said his ministry would summon the employers mentioned in the foreigners’ document and the agents involved to assist them in the investigation later this week.
Zaid is the latest to voice out on this matter, as various quarters have already called for the responsibility of formulating policies related to the management of foreign workers to be placed under the human resources ministry.
In October, a now-declassified 2019 report by an independent committee on foreign worker management revealed that the human resources ministry was best suited for the role as it is already responsible for determining the country’s labour market needs.
Sim had said he would hold discussions with the home ministry on having one ministry take responsibility for matters related to foreign workers.
In the X posting, Zaid also compared Malaysia’s approach to foreign worker recruitment with other countries that have transparent processes.
“We are still doing the same stuff as (practised) years ago. Agents bring in the workers and make profits, not unlike slave traders of the 17th century,” he said.
Zaid added that the failure to dispense with foreign worker recruitment agents contradicted the government’s efforts to eradicate corruption and abuse of power.
“Pity these foreigners. They borrowed money to pay the agents, they left their families to earn a living, and yet we took advantage of them for profit,” he said.
“We are so careful about what is halal and what is not, which restaurant we should go to and which we should avoid. But obviously, we don’t care about making money from people’s misery! What morality governs us?”
PETALING JAYA: The human resources ministry should assume direct responsibility for overseeing the influx and management of foreign workers instead of the home ministry, says former law minister Zaid Ibrahim.
“What is the home minister doing about this? Why should the home ministry be responsible for foreign workers? I thought we were a transparent government,” he said in an X (formerly Twitter) posting.
Zaid’s remarks came in the wake of 171 Bangladeshis in Pengerang, Johor being arrested after they participated in a march to lodge a police report against their agents for failing to secure promised jobs.
Although the case fell outside the jurisdiction of the human resources ministry, its minister Steven Sim told FMT that “we will aid the Bangladeshis on humanitarian grounds”.
Sim said his ministry would summon the employers mentioned in the foreigners’ document and the agents involved to assist them in the investigation later this week.
Zaid is the latest to voice out on this matter, as various quarters have already called for the responsibility of formulating policies related to the management of foreign workers to be placed under the human resources ministry.
In October, a now-declassified 2019 report by an independent committee on foreign worker management revealed that the human resources ministry was best suited for the role as it is already responsible for determining the country’s labour market needs.
Sim had said he would hold discussions with the home ministry on having one ministry take responsibility for matters related to foreign workers.
In the X posting, Zaid also compared Malaysia’s approach to foreign worker recruitment with other countries that have transparent processes.
“We are still doing the same stuff as (practised) years ago. Agents bring in the workers and make profits, not unlike slave traders of the 17th century,” he said.
Zaid added that the failure to dispense with foreign worker recruitment agents contradicted the government’s efforts to eradicate corruption and abuse of power.
“Pity these foreigners. They borrowed money to pay the agents, they left their families to earn a living, and yet we took advantage of them for profit,” he said.
“We are so careful about what is halal and what is not, which restaurant we should go to and which we should avoid. But obviously, we don’t care about making money from people’s misery! What morality governs us?”
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