SEPANG: Recruitment agencies should be charged a minimum deposit to pay for their migrant workers' food and drinks on their arrival in the country. Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department T. Murugiah said the deposit would be used to buy food and beverages for the migrant workers within the first 24 hours in the country.
Murugiah made the suggestion following a chance encounter with a group of Indonesians at the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) yesterday, who were without food or drink since their arrival several hours earlier.
"With the deposit, the Immigration Department could buy food and drinks for these migrants while they are waiting to be picked up."
Under current regulations, agencies and employers are given one day to pick up the migrant workers.
If no one comes to claim the workers within 24 hours, they will be transferred to the KLIA Immigration depot.
"Some wait for hours. But there are cases of those who have waited for days.
"They may be foreigners but they're human beings, too. We must respect them," an irked Murugiah told the New Straits Times during an official visit to Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the LCCT.
He said the agencies should be more responsible and pick up the workers as soon as they arrive.
"I will speak to Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar on this matter."
Murugiah, who chatted briefly with the small group of migrants, was shocked to find out that they had not had anything to eat or drink.
"I'm hungry and thirsty. We haven't had anything since we arrived," said migrant worker Mansur, 28.
Mansur and 11 other friends had arrived from Denpasar, Indonesia, earlier in the day and had been waiting for their employer for five hours.
Fellow migrant Hairul, 22, who came to a rubber estate here, said they could not afford to buy any food even if allowed outside the waiting area.
"Kita tak ada duit (We have no money)," he said.
