SNAPSHOT | Govt urged not to punish migrant workers lacking official papers; hybrid work for civil servants from Aug

KINI SNAPSHOT | What’s going on in the news today, with updates at 9am, 2pm, 6pm, and 9pm.

9pm

Labour

• Tenaganita has urged the government not to criminalise migrant workers for alleged immigration offences and punish their employers instead, following a raid in Port Klang that resulted in the detention of 270 migrant workers.

  It said employers recruited the workers and benefited from their labour, and are also responsible for ensuring their workers hold appropriate papers.

  “If workers are found without valid documentation because employers failed to renew permits, transferred workers unlawfully, abandoned them, or otherwise breached their legal obligations, why are the workers the ones being arrested, detained, prosecuted and ultimately deported?

  “Malaysia cannot continue treating migrant workers as criminals for circumstances over which they have little or no control,” it said.

• The cabinet has decided to make hybrid work the norm for civil servants, effective Aug 1.

  Except for jobs that require physical presence, civil servants may work from home two days per week or from another location approved by their department head.

  

  Civil servants must be present in the office on Mondays and Fridays in states where the weekend falls on Sunday, and Sunday and Thursday for states where the weekend falls on Friday.

  The hybrid work policy will supersede the work-from-home policy introduced to conserve fuel in response to the conflict in West Asia, the Civil Service Department said.

Reforms

• The government aims to finalise a constitutional amendment to separate the roles of the attorney-general and public prosecutor before the end of the current Dewan Rakyat session on July 16.

  Bernama reported that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said saying that she has presented the amendment bill during today’s cabinet meeting.

  Its amendments will be discussed further next week.

  She added that Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof had met opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin and Kota Bharu MP Takiyuddin Hassan, and the feedback received was highly positive.

  

Unexploded ordnance

• Flights involving Labuan Airport have been cancelled after its sole runway was closed following the discovery of old bombs.

  Bernama quoted an unnamed source stating that the explosives are believed to be World War II-era bombs, which were discovered 150m from the runway during a slope repair project site along the Kerupang coastal road.

  The Royal Malaysian Air Force and airport authorities are conducting a joint inspection of the runway, which will only be reopened after the inspection is completed and the necessary safety clearance has been issued.

Previously at 6pm | Muda pans Nga over allocations for Johor; Anwar pledges to work harder after survey findings

2pm | Petronas has enough fuel until August; PRM reverses plans to contest Johor polls

9am | Govt mulls new law for foreign e-commerce platforms; 340 evacuated in Perak floods

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