THE big sweep against illegals has begun. It is a day-and-night, all-agency operation. And countrywide, too. The problem is that such operations are occasional.
The illegals, the deceitful businesses and the perfidious agents who bring them into the country know this cyclic on-and-off raids too well. Do not get us wrong. We are not suggesting the enforcement agencies go on a perpetual raid-and-arrest mission. Not at all.
Just don't make it fitful. Let's take the Immigration Department. It knows exactly how many foreigners enter the country. It knows, too, how many must exit the country and don't. To be fair, it is a Herculean task for the department to track them down.
But still, such raids are after the event. Ex ante actions, such as being stricter with who gets in and who mustn't, are always better. Here again, the department is faced with a problem: interference by politicians.
Smitten by short-term thinking, these men of politics opt for immediate gratification, which is always a dangerous thing. Regulators must be allowed to regulate. Because if we didn't, then we couldn't blame them for the affliction that followed.
Then there is the convulsive reaction by businesses and those who represent them when people call for punitive actions to be taken against firms that bring in migrants and abandon them. We saw this when Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani suggested on Thursday that the errant firms be fined between RM20,000 and RM30,000 per worker.
The Malaysian Employers Federation's (MEF) reaction was instantaneous. No fines, please. Why? Employers may be having difficulties providing employment due to the volatile business environment. Instead, the MEF wants the migrant worker quotas to be transferred to other employers. Be just, we tell the MEF.
We ask the federation: did the company that promised the 171 Bangladeshis jobs rush to the police to help explain their presence in the country? Did it help them in any way? No, the firm chose to remain silent until they were found out.
Through no fault of theirs, the 171 migrants had to endure the ignominy of the arrest and everything that went with it. Imagine what they had to sell or pawn in Bangladesh just to be here to earn a paltry RM1,500. We must be fair to jobless migrants who are here legally.
Anything less is a betrayal.
The MEF must be just to the country, too. Issues related to migrant workers have long marred Malaysia's reputation. After being assigned to the shameful rung of Tier 3 in 2021 and 2022 by the United States State Department Trafficking in Persons report, Malaysia moved up to Tier 2 last year, still below the minimum standards required.
To not take punitive measures against firms, such as the one that brought in the 171 migrant workers to Johor last month, would encourage others to be likewise errant. Besides, allowing companies to freely transfer migrant worker quotas, as the MEF is recommending, may, under certain circumstances, amount to trafficking in persons or even forced labour under the eponymous treaty, as one former lawmaker told this newspaper.
Tier 3 is the worst place of disrepute for Malaysia to be in. Loss of esteem has an economic impact. Companies are supposed to help build Malaysia's economy, not destroy it.