More than 20,000 E-cards issued since Feb 15 - Immigration DG

A total of 20,108 Enforcement Card or E-card has been issued by the Immigration department to illegal workers in the country.

Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said a total of 3,722 employers were also registered under the programme that seeks to rehire illegal workers legally.

A total of 2,017 illegal workers who applied under the programme were rejected.

The application for the E-card which functions as a temporary verification to replace valid travel documents, was open Feb 15.

Employers and illegal workers have until June 30 to register under the programme which is free at all Immigration offices in Peninsular Malaysia.

However, the programme is only open to illegal immigrants in Peninsular Malaysia and only for those with employers listed in the five selected economic sectors.

Mustafar had earlier estimated between 400,000 to 600,000 illegal immigrants will take the opportunity to register under the programme.

On Jan 17, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Home Ministry had obtained approval from the Attorney-General’s Chambers to issue temporary cards for illegal immigrants who were employed.