New work permits suspended

Related Topics: | HRM Advice | Foreign Workers |

New work permits suspended

Extracted from The Star, 23^rd April 2000

The Home Minister has decided to suspend the issuance of permits for the recruitment of foreign workers.

Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Jamaludin Ahmad Damanhuri said yesterday the move was taken as the ministry was studying the situation of foreign workers in all sectors.

However, he said applications which had been approved would not be affected.

Employers could still pay levy and other charges at the Immigration Department headquarters, he said in a statement issued here.

He said the payments were for obtaining visa approvals for foreign workers to be brought into the country.

On Feb 28, the Cabinet committee on Foreign Workers decided that the ministry must stop accepting new applications for the recruitment of foreign workers for the time being as it was still processing a large number of applications submitted earlier.

Up to February 2000, there were 697,219 foreign workers nationwide.

Of the total, 517,766 were from Indonesia, 129,000 from Bangladesh, 30,500 from the Philippines, 3,280 from Pakistan, 2,888 from Thailand and the balance from other countries.

Last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that the Government had set a target for the reduction of non-skilled foreign workforce by about 100,000 a year.

He had said that about 5,000 skilled workers with extraordinary abilities would be recruited, adding that this manpower was vital in facing global challenges.

Currently, official estimates show that there are 697,219 foreign workers in the country.

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