A special committee has been set up to review all aspects of the country’s intake of foreign workers, both documented and undocumented, announced Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today.

A key consideration in its review will be the prioritisation of locals for employment.

He said this after chairing a meeting with division heads of the Immigration Department in Putrajaya today.

“With the many issues regarding foreign workers, we have formed a committee that will look into all aspects, their entry, management, the needs based on the different sectors, the current system as well as other aspects.

“This is so that they can be managed well to prevent them from flouting the law, for example if they do not return to their home country after their work permit expires.

“We also discussed undocumented workers which is a huge issue that we need to handle more effectively. We discussed that the same committee should look into this, like why there has been a huge influx of them into the country and issues of enforcement,” he told the press conference.

Muhyiddin, who will chair the committee, assured that local workers would be prioritised in all decisions made by the committee.

“In any (new) policies that we put forth, we will put the local workforce first.

“We will review things carefully to see if we need more foreign workers or if we can reduce them […] for sectors that need more workers, we need to see if our youth are prepared to work in those sectors.

“If they are not prepared, we need to analyse why and see what additional training they need. This is so that job opportunities are first filled by locals,” he said.

The Immigration Department is parked under the Home Ministry.

Don’t rush law reform

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin urged patience when asked if the law reforms as pledged in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto would be expedited at the next Parliament sitting.

“When we look at laws, we can’t be rushed, we need to really look into it carefully.

“There needs to be a lot of consultation before things go to Parliament, basically engaging with civil society, the Bar Council or Suhakam. These engagements are important because (law reform) is not an initiative by the ministry alone.

“We commit ourselves to our manifesto but now that we are here, we need to go through it very expeditiously and carefully. Once we have arrived at some final decisions we will bring them to Parliament where they will be subject to debate and discussion,” he said.

Muhyiddin, who is Bersatu president and Pagoh MP, previously announced that a special committee chaired by Home Ministry secretary-general Alwi Ibrahim had been set up to review existing laws said to be draconian.

In its manifesto, Harapan had promised to revoke five laws – the Sedition Act 1948, the Prevention of Crime Act 1959, the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and the National Security Council Act 2016.

It also promised to abolish authoritarian provisions in laws such as the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015.