Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
It will also exempt them from taking the compulsory induction course.
<p>Home Minister Datuk Azmi Khalid said the Government wanted male Pakistani workers
to come over as soon as possible to meet the shortage of 400,000 workers in
various sectors.</p>
<p>He said details of the recruitment process were being worked out with the Pakistan
High Commission and an announcement would be made soon.</p>
<p>"We need the workers urgently. So to speed up the (recruitment) process
we will exempt them from taking the course. But the medical check-up is a must,"
he said yesterday.</p>
<p>Asked how urgently the workers were required, Azmi said: "We want them
to come as soon as yesterday."</p>
<p>On Thursday, Azmi announced that the Government had come to an agreement with
Pakistan on the recruitment of its workers to ease the acute labour shortage
in Malaysia.</p>
<p>Pakistan High Commissioner Talat Munir said yesterday that once the procedures
had been worked out, it could take a month before the first batch of workers
arrived.</p>
<p>He said the Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) of Pakistan, would process
all the applications and speed up the recruitment provided the Malaysian High
Commission in Pakistan can approve visas quickly.</p>
<p>"The OEC can also assist the employers in conducting tests and interview
potential candidates.</p>
<p>"Those selected for employment abroad are assisted with their travel arrangements,"
he said.</p>
<p>Azmi said the Pakistanis could be employed in all sectors, including deep-sea
fishing, an area of their expertise.</p>
<p>"At the moment the sector employs Thais and Myanmars for deep-sea fishing
in the east coast as they do not have the local manpower for this," he
said.</p>
<p>On why only 100,000 Pakistanis were being recruited, Azmi said it was the number
that Pakistan had offered.</p>
<p>The ministry, Azmi said, was restructuring the system for recruitment of foreign
labour in Malaysia to minimise exploitation and to stop the employment of illegal
workers.</p>
<p>"We don’t want to see exploitation of foreign workers, including the presence
of middlemen.</p>
<p>"We will ensure that the agencies are reputable ones," he said.</p>
<p>The minister said employers who were having problems getting foreign labour
could now regard Pakistan as among their source countries.</p>
<p>In Pekan, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Pakistan had
asked Malaysia to employ its workers as a way of reducing its trade deficit
with Malaysia.</p>
<p>"The current trade volume between both countries is low and the move to
employ their workers will help to improve economic ties between the two countries,"
he said after handing over food packages to poor villagers in Kampung Serandu
in Pekan.
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