Malaysia lost trillions to illicit capital outflows, but it is ultimately the migrant workers who would have to pay the price under a scheme reportedly being devised by the government, an NGO said.

“Malaysia had lost RM1.38 trillion to illicit capital outflows in the decade from 2003, and nothing had been done to address it. But it's migrants who would have to pay (the price)," Tenaganita said in a statement posted on Facebook today.

“New plans for old Ideas: Squeeze the labour out of migrants, steal their money, steal their futures, steal their lives. And it is them we call the thieves. Repulsive,” it said.

The group was responding to a report on Sinchew Daily yesterday, which claimed that the government is seeking to set up a fund to which foreign workers would have to make monthly contributions .

This, the report said, was a bid to limit the remittances sent by the foreign workers back to their home country, and hence stem the outflow of the ringgit at a time when the currency’s value is plummeting.

“The government is still determining the sum or percentage of salary that foreign workers need to pay, and when (including special circumstances) the workers can make withdrawals from the fund,” the report quoted an unnamed source as saying.

When contacted, Tenaganita director Glorene A Das questioned whether this is another money-making scheme by the government, and demanded more transparency from the government.

“In the past, somehow, through all the 6P legalisation and amnesty programmes, there is a big chunk of money taken from the migrant workers, every year.

“So, is this a new scheme?” she asked.

Consultation lacking

Glorene also questioned why the Home Ministry is tasked with developing the scheme, since such a scheme similar to the Employees Provident Fund usually falls under the Human Resources Ministry.

She added that there must be consultation with the migrant workers, but this was not taking place.

“The migrants should be consulted (in order to find out) what is it that they want at the end of the day when they go home and are reintegrated into their own country and society.

“I think this is lacking. I don’t think that is being done,” she said.

The Sinchew Daily report also quoted Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed as saying that he is unable to reveal details of the scheme as they are being worked out, but an announcement may be made soon.

It also quoted then deputy finance Minister Ahmad Maslan as saying that between January and September last year, foreign workers remitted about RM23.07 billion out of Malaysia through some 113 million transactions.

The report said a government study had found that foreign workers remitted about 80 percent of their salaries back to their home country to support their families.