A good number of Bangladeshi workers, living in Malaysia, are likely to be benefited and many of them will get legal status, as the Malaysian government last week announced work permit extension of foreign workers for another year.
About 267,000 Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia, registered under the 6P Programme for foreign workers, will be benefited from the announcement, said officials of Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian home ministry acting Secretary-General Alwi Ibrahim announced the decision for about 352,493 foreign workers, registered under the 6P Programme, for a year with immediate effect. The extension will be applied only to those who had their temporary work permits under the programme, and were legally employed.
Sources said the Malaysian government took the decision after it had weighed the possible impact of sudden decrease in the workforce on national economy, and for giving adequate time to employers to find replacement workers.
The government earlier said the foreign workers had to return to their home countries. But later it decided to extend their work permits for one year to avoid the economic consequences of losing more than 350,000 workers in key industries.
Under the Registration, Legalisation, Amnesty, Supervision, Enforcement and Deportation Programme (6P Programme, as abbreviated in Bahasa Malaysia), illegal foreign workers were required to register with the home ministry, obtain temporary work permits and have their fingerprints recorded in a biometric system.
Under the 6P Programme, foreign workers in the service industry were issued two-year work permits, and foreign workers in the
manufacturing, construction and farming industries received three-year work permits.
The Malaysian Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers introduced the programme in August 2011 to reduce the number of immigrants, who entered the country illegally or who had overstayed their work permits.
Four contractor associations in Malaysia have recently urged the Malaysian government to reconsider the migrant workers' status under the present foreign worker bleaching plan, otherwise known as the 6P Programme.
In the wake of expiration of the 3-year programme, started in 2011, the foreign workers will have to leave the country by February 15, 2015, creating a shortage of 100,000 labourers in Malaysia's domestic construction sector then.
The Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) has appreciated the government's decision to extend the foreign workers' permit, registered under the 6P Programme for another year.
MBAM President Matthew Tee said the extension will no doubt lessen the burden, faced by the construction industry due to shortage of foreign workers.
According to Malaysian authorities, a total of 2.32 million foreign workers and illegal immigrants were registered using the biometric system under the 6P Amnesty Programme till the deadline for registration that ended on August 31 last year. The number comprised 1,016,908 legal workers and 1,303,126 illegal.
An equal number of foreigners are also working in the country, as the figure does not include those who refused to register as well as maids and refugees from Sabah and Sarawak, said officials in Malaysia.
According to Malaysian Home Ministry, the Indonesians made up the highest number of foreign workers with 640,609 illegal workers and 405,312 legal workers in Malaysia.
They were followed by the Bangladeshis, numbering 267,803 illegal workers and 132,897 legal workers. Besides, the Nepalese consisted of 221,617 legitimate workers and 33,437 illegal ones.
Without the extension, these workers would have to leave Malaysia. The Malaysian cabinet had agreed to provide the one-year extension, allowing employers, who are yet to send their foreign workers to their home countries, to prepare for their replacements.
Any employer, who intends to continue employing foreign workers during the extension period, may apply for renewal of the temporary work permit at immigration offices immediately.
The Malaysian government, according to sources, does not want the foreigners to remain in the country continuously for more than five years, as they might request for permanent resident status then.
Foreign workers, who fail to comply with the Malaysian government instructions, are very likely to face hard days, as the government is planning to tighten its screw on foreign workers more strictly in the coming days.
The Malaysian government has already cracked down on illegal migrant workers and rounded up 347 illegal immigrants, including 77 Bangladeshis, in the Cameron Highlands between November 22 and December 13.
mzrbd@yahoo.com
