Conditions for rehiring illegals tightened to weed out cheats - Immigration

More stringent conditions have been imposed on the Illegal Immigrants Rehiring and Relocation Programme or Rehiring Programme to ensure no party profiteered from this group.

Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Sakib Kusmi said the implementation of the programme scheduled to end on June 30 would be carried out with caution and control to ensure the illegal immigrants were not cheated by any irresponsible individuals.

Among the conditions to join the programme were that the illegals needed to have the record of original entry into Malaysia, proof of employment for more than six months and had no criminal record, he said.

"For ineligible illegal immigrants, we will ensure they are repatriated to their country of origin according to the existing procedure under the 3+1 Programme to reduce the number of illegals in this country," he said in a

statement Monday.

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Under the Rehiring Programme which is a government initiative, illegal immigrants from 15 countries currently working in the country would be given valid permits to join the eligible sectors of employment for monitoring and security purposes.

Sakib said the government through the Home Ministry had appointed three companies, namely International Marketing and Net Resources Sdn Bhd (IMAN), Bukti Megah Sdn Bhd and Konsurtium PMF to assist the Immigration Department handle the programme.

He said IMAN was tasked with managing illegal immigrants from Indonesia, Bukti Megah handled illegals from Myanmar while Konsurtium PMF took care of illegals of other nationalities.

"The role of the companies is limited to the job scope set by the government," he said, adding that the implementation of the entire Rehiring Programme was led by the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department which made the decision on each application.