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Only 25pct of 600,000 illegals registered for E-cards

Immigration director-general Mustafar Ali expressed his disappointment that only 25 percent of the targeted 600,000 illegal immigrants registered for the enforcement card or E-card.

He said that as of 7.50pm tonight, 154,328 illegals involving 26,738 employers had applied and 138,970 E-cards were issued.

“Tomorrow (Friday) is the last day for the E-card application and so far, the number is way below the original target of 600,000 illegals.

“I am disappointed that employers hiring illegals do not take this opportunity to legalise their employees,” he told reporters when observing the E-card application process at the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya last tonight.

He once again warned the illegals who failed to register until 12 midnight today that the Immigration Department would conduct massive operations beginning July 1 to detain and expel them from the country.

Mustafar was also disappointed when the employers of the illegals chose to appear at the last minute causing the Immigration Department to open the counters until 3am, considering that the registration drive had been implemented since February.

“Today alone, between 3,000 and 4,000 people turned up for the registration and previously the daily average number of arrivals is only between 800 and 1,000 people,” he said.

In addition, he said there were individuals who provoked the immigration officers when they had to wait a bit longer to complete the registration process.

“It's their own choice to come at the last minute. We do serve them until 3am and try to provide the best service,” he said.

In the meantime, a Bernama survey at the Immigration Department headquarters here found employers and illegals had been waiting since 3am to register before the final registration deadline.

An employer Anni Morani Musthafa, 47, who arrived at 5am, conceded her mistake for turning up at the last minute to register three of her workers from Nepal.

Anni, who operated the hotel’s cleaning service in the federal capital, however, praised the Immigration Department’s efforts to extend the opening hours until 3am to enable employers and employees to register.

Another employer, Zaidi Osman, 45, who arrived with his four Indonesian employees from Negeri Sembilan at 8am, said he was at the counter at the last minute to register his workers as they took their time to decide to do so.

“They have been deceived by their agents before and lost their money so they are afraid to register," he said.

The E-cards, issued for free, aimed at registering and allowing illegal immigrants to obtain work permits after going through some procedures set by the Home Ministry.

- Bernama

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