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Fine errant firms RM30,000 per unemployed migrant worker, says Johari

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Plantation and commodities minister Johari Ghani says the fines can be used to cover the cost of repatriating migrant workers to their home countries.

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Free Malaysia Today
Johari Ghani said the issue of migrants being left jobless after being brought into the country was discussed in the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:
Companies that bring in migrant workers without having jobs ready for them should be fined up to RM30,000 per worker, says plantation and commodities minister Johari Ghani.

Johari said the fines could be used to repatriate migrant workers to their home countries because the expenses involved in doing this are currently borne by the government, Berita Harian reported.

He said the issue of migrant workers being brought into the country without having jobs ready for them was brought up at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stating that he wanted the matter to be resolved immediately.

“Therefore, I suggest that any company bringing migrant workers into our country and not providing them with employment within a month should be fined RM20,000 to RM30,000 per worker,” Johari was quoted as saying after his ministry’s monthly assembly.

“If there is no work for these workers, the money can be used to send them back. Otherwise, the government needs to bear the cost.

“When people come to our country to take up jobs but find none, it gives Malaysia a bad image.”

Johari also said the lack of migrant workers, especially in the rubber sector, was critical as there were 420,000ha of rubber plantations that remain untapped due to the labour shortage.

He estimated that more than 70,000 migrant workers were needed to meet the demand from this and other sectors.

Yesterday, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and human resources minister Steven Sim met to discuss the “way forward” in managing the migrant workers issue in the country.

This comes after 171 Bangladeshis were arrested in Pengerang, Johor, on Dec 20 after taking part in a march on their way to lodge a police report against their agents for failing to secure jobs for them as promised.

In a Facebook post, Saifuddin said their meeting focused on the shared scope of migrant worker management, acknowledging that exploitation of foreign workers was a “hot” and serious issue.

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