A recent visit to the Bahagian Pekerja Asing (Foreign Workers Division) of the Immigration Department in Putrajaya has deeply upset me. I was there to sort out some documentation with regard to the repatriation of one of my workers who had head injuries.

I took the worker along with me in case he was needed for statements to be taken. He was well dressed and would have passed for an expatriate. At the reception, I was given a pass to go in to see one of the directors.

There was a waiting area at the office and I told the worker to sit down on the sofa there and wait for me. We were informed by two officers sitting there in the waiting area that the seating area was only meant for employers and that the worker would have to wait outside.

I pleaded for some understanding as the worker had a bandage covering a part of his head but got no sympathy. I then took him out and asked him to wait at the area where the 'Bahagian Pekerja Asing' counters were located. There were over a hundred seats there facing the counters for people to sit while waiting for their numbers to be called.

I then went in to see the director. When I had finished, I saw the worker standing outside again and was told that he had been chased out of the area as an officer had told him to leave as the area was also meant for employers only. I was surprised as there were many empty seats there.

The irony is that this same worker had been involved in the building of Putrajaya's Immigration Department building at one time and proudly pointed out to his work as we were entering the building earlier.

So many foreign workers become undocumented or illegal because their employers fail to renew their work permits. With rules like this that prohibit the worker from even entering the room where all visa applications and related matters are decided, why is it that it is the worker who is ultimately punished when his visa is not renewed?

I hope that the Immigration Department will begin to acknowledge the contribution these workers have made to the Malaysian economy and start treating them more like human beings. If such government agencies were to treat them like this, can we be so surprised with so many cases of abuse by employers being reported every day?

We need to begin respecting these people as human beings deserving of all the rights enjoyed by all of us.