DPM: Foreign workers coming due to demand

SHAH ALAM: Foreign workers are coming into the country only because there is a demand from the industries in Malaysia, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Responding to queries by the Federation of Malaysia Manufacturers (FMM) over the government’s plan to bring 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers into the country, he said the group should check with their members if request for foreign workers have been made by them.
"Their members had come forward with an application to the Human Resource Ministry and also to the foreign workers division in Immigration Department.
"I hope they will check with their members whether it is true or not," he said.
He noted that the government was not the one bringing these foreign workers in.
"Those who requested are the employers (in the industry), we are only hearing out their demands.
"They say that their companies cannot move, they are not moving because they do not have enough workers because Malaysians do not want to work in their companies, and those who work there do not last long, forcing these companies to close down," he added.
Ahmad Zahid added the government is allowing these foreign workers in not because of the levy but the demands of the market.
"This needs to be understood – the government is not in the wrong, and the government only wants to give in to the demands of the employers, whose businesses are declining," he said, adding that the factory industry, plantation industry, and palm oil industry are among those affected by the shortage of foreign workers.
The Deputy Prime Minister also pointed out that there are sectors where Malaysians do not want to work in, which prompt the demand.
"How many Malaysians actually want to work in the plantation industry, who wants to stand rain and shine in the construction sector, who wants to work in the 3D sector; dirty, dangerous and difficult.
"None," he said. "Don't blame me. Don't blame the government. Those who are demanding are the market."
Ahmad Zahid told a press conference this after launching Cervello Tres, the sole distributor of MAD Velocifero electric scooter in Extreme Park, Section 13 here today.
FMM had recently questioned the government’s move to bring in the Bangladeshi workers, noting that this could add to the problem of illegal foreign workers in the country.
On another matter, Ahmad Zahid said that it is looking to bring in the second batch of Syrian refugees into the country.
"The government has announced to bring 3,000 Syria refugees into the country, and in the first stage, as many as five families have been brought into Malaysia," he said.
He noted than while the government has yet to decide which will be brought in, the government is taking measures to screen these refugees to ensure safety.
"The following measures is to bring them in temporarily in Malaysia to live for a certain period before returning to their homeland Syria when it is peaceful," he added.
He said that priority is given to Syrians who are studying here or are professionals in the country.
Ahmad Zahid said the government is working with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to screen through these refugees with the Advance Passenger Screen System.
It was reported that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had said the country will accept some 3,000 Syrian refugees over the next three years to alleviate the refugee crisis in Syria.