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Why pick on foreigners over Camerons tragedy?

As reported in the local press recently, His Royal Highness the Sultan of Pahang is understandably very concerned about the environmental and social mess that is Cameron Highlands. And he wants to clear his state of all “illegal” (archaic term for undocumented) foreign workers so that presumably Cameron Highlands can regain its former glory and his state can develop economically without social ills.

However, may I respectfully suggest that unless the root causes of a problem are rigorously analysed and identified, the remedy can often turn out to be worse than the initial problem.

Having been involved for some year in the issue of foreign workers, I would make bold to say that  the causes of the  present sad state of affairs in Cameron Highlands seem quite obviously to be the  cumulative result of years of  unbridled corruption, neglect and incompetence on the part of the local, state and federal authorities such as the Immigration Department.

Much of the responses from the authorities after the environmental tragedy in Cameron Highlands seem to focus on ‘illegal’ foreign workers as if they are the prime cause of the problem. On the contrary, they are mere pawns on the chessboard of greed and corruption, where the real players are politicians, public officials and businessmen.

The impact on the environment of undocumented foreign workers, operating independently, is insignificant; the vast majority of the foreign workers, documented or otherwise, are working on the payroll of Malaysians, whose ranks include the titled and well-connected and whose business ethics and regard for the environment are suspect at best.

It is well within the rights of his Royal Highness to decree that there should be no foreigners - documented or undocumented - working or wandering around his state. However, as a fair and just ruler, he cannot be blind to the toils, sweat, blood and lives of the foreign workers who have contributed immensely to the economic development of his state.

In fact, it would not be wrong to say that if all the foreign workers are forthwith  expelled from the state - and the authorities ensure that no new foreigners are employed - the economic life of the state would be nearly paralysed.

Whether or not we like to acknowledge this fact, we have to face the reality of our heavy dependence on foreign labour and hence we need to formulate a comprehensive and coherent policy to deal with the phenomenon of foreign workers in our country whose dignity as human persons should be respected.

No doubt there are crooks, gangsters and criminal syndicates among the foreign workers, but there numbers are relatively minuscule and they usually prey on other foreign workers, not on Malaysians or on the environment; they should nevertheless be dealt with severely by existing laws in the country.

A very thin line

Unfortunately, the immigration and other authorities generally treat foreign workers as sub-humans, with violence and disregard for justice. The line between documented and undocumented foreign workers is a very thin line and thousands of foreign workers fall on the wrong side of the line through no fault of their own.

They are not criminals and should not be treated as such; they are often victims of human trafficking for labour, neglect of their employers, or simply senseless immigration regulations.

Hence, it would he helpful if his Royal Highness decrees a deeper and more thorough analysis of causes of the phenomenon of large numbers of undocumented foreign workers in his state. Only then can effective solutions be formulated and implemented There are individuals and NGOs who have extensive experience in working with foreign workers who will be more than happy to assist in this endeavour.

All Malaysians look forward to a time when Cameron Highlands will once again become a jewel in the state of Pahang.

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