Biometric registration of legal foreign workers to go on indefinitely

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 The government has extended indefinitely the biometric registration of legal foreign workers, which was scheduled to end on Sunday.

This exercise would run together with the registration of illegal foreign workers set to begin on Monday, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

Employers should not delay registration, he was quoted by Bernama as saying.

He said the registration of foreign workers was important for the government to be prepared to handle cross-border crimes often linked to immigrants.

The rise in the number of unaccounted foreign workers can undermine national security, and then it will be too late, he was quoted as saying.

To a question on the extension period, Hishammuddin said it was not a question of extension but resolution, adding that the earlier the registration was completed, the earlier the matter could be resolved.

The biometric registration will go on until further notice. I have learned that setting a deadline will only result in everyone coming to register at the last moment, Bernama quoted him as saying.

He also said the government should not be blamed if foreign workers did not register, given the lack of a deadline, and are later deported.

Deportation is the last resort under the programme of six measures (6P) which begin with registration. The others are legalisation, amnesty, monitoring and enforcement.

The 6P programme is aimed at gathering data on illegal immigrants, such as their place of work, employer and salary in the attempt to overcome social and crime issues often linked to these people.

Since the start of the biometric registration on July 13, some 390,404 foreign workers engaged by 26,894 employers in the country have responded.