Comment: Brokers, bogus agencies cheating jobseekers

Aug. 2, p. 1

A variety of problems are hampering the Malaysian government’s policy of providing amnesty for illegal migrant workers, ranging from middlemen to bogus agencies collecting illegal levies from unwitting jobseekers. Alex Ong of Migrant Care Malaysia said on Monday that many Indonesians who had been residing in Malaysia for a long time, acting as middlemen by helping illegal Indonesian migrants to register for the Malaysian government’s amnesty program.

“These scalpers are benefiting from this momentum, offering migrant workers who are not well-informed about the program their help with registration and the amnesty application, for RM400 [US$136] each,” he told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Your comments:

It is a shame that Malaysia, in the midst of trying to be a modern and progressive nation, already believes these millions of “menial” jobs are beneath their work stations in life and are living the false dream of being an advanced nation.

Does Malaysia really want to be an “advanced” nation like Greece, Ireland or even the UK or the US? See the mess these nations are in with their foreign workers (illegal or otherwise) and the amount of debt that they will never be able to repay?

Wake up, Malaysia! And build the nation with your own hands before someone else takes the country away from you all.

John
Kuala Lumpur

One of the conditions for amnesty applicants is that they are currently employed, so why can’t their employers assist them with their applications insead of using agents.

The Indonesian embassy in KL could also assist the illegal unemployed migrants if they were interested in their welfare. Help the migrant workers for a change.

Barry Acott
Australia