LETTER | Back off foreign workers, Hamzah!

LETTER | I have been in the foreign workers business for over 15 years now. There were good times when our huge appetite for migrant labour from countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar jived with the easy flow of workers from those countries.

But there were also bad times, such as when the movement control order was put in place, which essentially closed off the borders to such workers. As a result, many in the industry were languishing.

All these years, the key agency in dealing with foreign workers was the human resources ministry, although the immigration department, which fell under the home ministry, played a role too.

But quite recently, the home ministry has started to encroach in jurisdictions previously overseen by the human resources ministry, causing massive confusion to the industry. It is time for home ministry o hand over foreign worker approval and management back to the human resources ministry.

What is very disconcerting is Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin's mishandling of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indonesian on domestic maids.

His recent outburst against the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia concerning a lack of trust in the MOU negotiations was most unbecoming and could further scuttle efforts to ink the long-awaited deal between both countries.

Even Seputeh MP Teresa Kok went on record to say that she believed Hamzah appeared to be sabotaging the MOU discussion between human resources minister and Indonesia.

Inconsistency

While the human resources ministry and Indonesia were discussing the flow chart of One Channel System (OCS), the Immigration Department had issued a new policy for entries using MyTravelPass.

This was inconsistent with the draft MOU where it was already agreed that applications will only be through the OCS.

Hamzah should have met the Indonesian law and human rights minister and not his Indonesian counterpart who has nothing whatsoever to do with the MOU.

One just can't help but wonder if Hamzah has a hidden, personal agenda that supersedes national interests and the thousands of foreign worker recruitment agencies whose rice bowl is dependent on the signing of the MOU.

The industry has suffered tremendously due to the pandemic. We have salaries to pay and the conclusion of the MoU can help put us back on track.

Hamzah and the home ministry should just back off and let the human resources ministry handle this so that we can expeditiously conclude the MOU with Indonesia. If Hamzah is not keen, he should just resign!

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.