Staff Reporter :The Malaysian Cabinet has decided to halt the recruitment of new foreign workers into the country, said the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, also Home Minister, said this after handing over letters of appointments to new village Chiefs in the Bagan Datoh Parliamentary Constituency, according to The Star Online. “This means that the initial plan to bring in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers was also officially scrapped,” the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister told the journalists.He added that employers who need workers will have to apply to legalise existing foreigners in the country without work permits or whose permits have expired.Ahmad Zahid said employers have to legalise such foreign workers by June 30 this year.He said the government is bringing forward the deadline from December 31 because employers continuously ignore the chances given to them. “Instead, the government is criticised and pressured. If they can’t hire anyone, they should just get the Malaysian Employers Federation, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and Malaysian Trade Union Congress to help them find locals to do the job,” he said. Ahmad Zahid said following this, employers and recruitment agents would be dealt with more severely. “We will be pushing for those found guilty of trafficking and harbouring illegal workers. Right now, they are not afraid because they think they can get away by paying a fine but that will not be the case anymore,” he said.Earlier on February 19, within the span of 24 hours the Malaysian government backtracked on its decision, making its stand clear that recruitment of all foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, to the country has been suspended. On February 8, the Cabinet approved the draft of a MoU with Malaysia with a target of sending 15 lakh Bangladeshi workers there in three years while the Malaysian Cabinet approved the MoU on December 20, 2015.Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister of Bangladesh Nurul Islam BSc and Human Resources Minister of Malaysia Dato Seri Richard Riot signed the MoU on behalf of their respective countries at a ceremony on February 18. Earlier on 2009, the Malaysian government postponed recruitment of Bangladeshi workers because of several irregularities and corruption in the recruiting process. In 2012, Bangladesh and Malaysia signed a MoU under G2G agreement in order to restart the recruitment process and in 2014 both countries signed a protocol under the MoU.As of December last year, there are 2,135,035 documented foreign workers in Malaysia, of which 282,287 are from Bangladesh.
