The government will raid the Forest City project in Johor, which hired illegal migrant workers from China, and also look into the possibility of legalising them.

Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said his ministry will consider legalising these immigrant workers, while Immigration Department director-general Mustafar Ali said immigration officers will raid Forest City.

This follows Malaysiakini's special report on illegal Chinese migrant workers, hundreds of whom were forced to return home after finding out they might not receive payment from subcontractors of the Forest City project. These workers originally arrived in Malaysia under tourist visas.

Some of the illegal workers were owed up to six months' salary and had survived on a monthly RM300 allowance.

When contacted, Mustafar said the Immigration Department is looking at the matter from two angles: abuse of permit under immigration action, and the possibility of trafficking in persons or smuggling of migrant workers, as stated in the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007.

Action could be taken against all the employers and subcontractors under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, according to him.

Mustafar said that they had previously conducted raids on illegal workers, although they occasionally refrained from alerting the media beforehand for fear of tipping off workers about the raids.

He also mentioned that they would be working together with other authorities to conduct future raids. "Let us take our joint functions and conduct raids," he said, adding that Nur Jazlan had also sent a text message to him on the matter.

Mustafar, who also expressed the need for employers to fulfil their responsibilities to their foreign employees, said: “We don't want Malaysia to be named and shamed. We are supposed to give work for them (the workers) because they are working in Malaysia.”

Meanwhile, Nur Jazlan said the government will investigate the matter further and look at ways to legalise the workers through proper employers.

"We will consider their eligibility to be registered under the rehiring programme. We will instruct the enforcement section of the Immigration Department to investigate the role of the developer and the contractors of the project."

Nur Jazlan explained that although China is not an official source of labour for Malaysia, some Chinese workers had been given special approval upon request from Chinese investors or contractors. He further stated that these workers were expected to go home after their contracts expired.

"But many don't go home, especially in construction projects by Chinese mainland companies," said Nur Jazlan.

The Malaysian government has only entered into memorandum of understandings (MOUs) on labour with several countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The Home Ministry's rehiring programme was meant for illegal workers in Peninsular Malaysia to apply for work permits to meet the job demands in a few key sectors, mainly construction, plantation, services, manufacturing, and agriculture.

This will also enable the government to determine the actual number of illegal foreign workers in the country for the purposes of monitoring and security.

Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd (CGPV) is 66 percent owned by Country Garden Holdings through its Malaysian registered subsidiaries, namely Country Garden Waterfront Sdn Bhd, Country Garden Danga Bay Sdn Bhd and Country Garden Real Estate Sdn Bhd.

The state government's share of the project, or more specifically Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ), is purportedly channeled through Esplanade Danga 88 Sdn Bhd, which holds a 34 percent stake in CGPV.

The largest shareholder of Esplanade Danga 88 Sdn Bhd, with a controlling stake of 64.4 percent, is Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Sultan Iskandar.

Developer vows action

In an email to Malaysiakini, CGPV vowed to investigate the matter and take action against errant contractors.

"As a responsible developer, CGPV will investigate the allegation with reference to the foreign workers and its related issues. The developer stresses that any breach of contract would result in firm action being taken against the relevant contractor.

"The project involves a number of main contractors as well as sub-contractors. Like any other development projects, the process of awarding contracts to these contractors would require the signing of contractual agreements."

It said the agreement covers the employability of foreign workers in accordance with the relevant immigration laws and regulations and also the responsibilities of the contractors in managing their workers.

"Forest City reiterates that it would do its best to ensure that the laws are followed and will look into this," it added.

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