WE refer to the letter on foreign workers by D.S. of Sungai Buloh ("Let's have better enforcement" — NST, April 4).
We would like to inform D.S. that the government continues to monitor and take a serious stand on the presence of foreign workers in this country. Although Malaysia welcomes these foreigners, the government continues to focus on the security aspect and the threats posed by them.
To control the entry of illegal immigrants, the government has taken the following steps:
- Carrying out continuous operations with the Immigration, the People's Volunteer Corps and the police to trace, apprehend, litigate and evict nationals who break the terms and regulations under the Immigration Act 6 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963;
- Introducing a biometric system to ensure that thumbprints of all foreign workers are taken before they are allowed to enter to work in this country;
- Issuing i-cards to all foreign students and workers for easier identification by the authorities of genuine students and foreign workers;
- Ensuring that tourists to this country have their return tickets apart from advising them to have ample money for their stay here; and
- Introducing the Malaysia Immigration Enforcement System to facilitate enforcement tasks. This mechanism helps enforcement authorities carry out operations at construction sites and factories.
To safeguard the country's security, the government continues to uphold a strict policy concerning the entry of foreigners as employees.
In accordance with this, the government has taken appropriate steps to reduce the employment of foreign workers by obliging every employer applying for foreign workers to notify the Labour Department of vacancies so that locals registered under Job Clearing System will be given preference for these jobs.
In this context, the cabinet has directed the Economic Planning Unit to prepare a report on the number of foreign workers needed by each sector.
Hence, the government continues to take stern action in handling the influx of illegal foreign workers through enforcement operations.
Apart from that, every foreigner who wishes to work legally in Malaysia has to fulfil the terms and conditions fixed by the Immigration Department.
SHAMSIAH DAUD for the Home Ministry
