KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Resources Ministry will assist the Bangladeshi workers in Kota Tinggi, Johor who have allegedly been cheated by recruitment agents.
Its minister Steven Sim said it would also summon the employers mentioned in the foreigners' document and the related agencies to assist in the investigation later this week.
He said the ministry would assist them on humanitarian grounds.
"We shall not hesitate to take stern action against those found guilty.
"I want to emphasise here that the recruitment of migrant workers is intended to support necessary local businesses and should not be viewed as a profit-making service," FMT reported today.
Sim however emphasised that the ministry would maintain the freeze on applications for migrant workers for the time being.
He said he would meet with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to discuss policy improvements related to migrant workers.
This comes after a viral video surfaced of a group of 171 Bangladeshi men who were walking in a large group which prompted concerns among local residents.
Kota Tinggi district police chief Superintendent Hussin Zamora said the incident, which occurred on Dec 20, prompted the armed forces to file a report the same day.
He said the Bangladeshi men were arrested by the armed forces personnel and initial investigations had revealed that they were probably heading towards the Bayu Damai police station, located about 10 kilometres away from their hostel.
The foreign workers wanted to press charges against their agents as they claimed they had yet to be employed after three to six months.
Hussin said the Bangladeshi men, aged between 19 and 43, were handed over to the Immigration Department for overstaying in the country under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.