Labour rights group Tenaganita today urged the government to issue special work permits to migrant workers who have cases pending in court before the massive crackdown on illegal immigrants is carried out next month.

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, the group expressed its concern over some 500 migrant workers nationwide who still have cases pending in the industrial court for unfair dismissal or in the labour court for unpaid wages and other benefits.

"These workers fear that, with the amnesty period coming to an end on Dec 31, they may be arrested, charged, convicted, whipped and imprisoned because they are currently deemed to be undocumented workers," said Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez.

She explained that these workers had entered the country legally but that their work permits have since expired or have been cancelled by their employers due to labour disputes.

"The workers are basically claiming their legal rights as guaranteed under the labour laws... Knowing that the legal process takes time, the immigration department and the home ministry have denied them any other visa to stay in Malaysia to obtain justice," she said.

Thus these workers, have since became undocumented and face the risk "of being punished like criminals".

'Are we criminals?'

According to Tenaganita, 149 foreign workers in Kuala Lumpur alone have cases pending in court. The majority are from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Indonesia.

Fernandez urged the respective foreign missions to intervene and allow their nationals to stay in their premises as a protective measure until the legal process is done.

Yesterday, a group of 60 workers sought the Bangladesh High Commission's protection from arrest while awaiting their cases to be settled. The high commission has agreed to negotiate with the immigration department for special passes.

While expressing appreciation to the high commission for its immediate intervention, Fernandez noted that the special passes can only be renewed twice under the current laws.

"Then the workers situation will be back to square one. Thus this interim measure would be ineffective," she said.

The solution, she said, lies in special work permits being issued to those who have found other jobs while waiting for the outcome of their cases.

About 20 Bangladeshi workers present at the press conference shared their experiences.

One of them, Abul Bashare, 32, who has a case pending over unpaid wages, said he is worried that the authorities will come after him when the amnesty period ends.

"My friend who is in a similar situation has been arrested and sentenced to six months jail for not having documents. Are we criminals? Do we deserve the six-month jail term?" he asked.

'Review crackdown'

Meanwhile, Fernandez called upon the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to review the planned crackdown and urged the authorities to disclose details of enforcement.

"Government officials are unwilling to provide information because the information or internal memos are seen as information to be protected under the Official Secrets Act," she said.

The government initiated a 17-day amnesty period starting Oct 29. This has now been extended to Dec 31.

The authorities hope that at least 400,000 people, mainly Indonesians, will leave during this period.

Those found to be without valid documents face a five-year jail sentence or a fine of up to RM10,000, or both, plus whipping.

There are an estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants in Malaysia.