Kathmandu, March 3

The Malaysian government has said that it will soon implement a system whereby foreign migrant workers will be able to apply for jobs in the South-East Asian nation online.

Speaking to the Malaysian media on Saturday, Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran, said that the government is close to finalising all the preparations to hire foreign migrant labourers, especially from Nepal and Bangladesh, within a few months.

Kulasegaran further said that the Independent Foreign Workers Committee, which was formed to suggest the government the method that needs to be adopted to bring foreign workers, had finalised its report but the government has yet to endorse it. “The Malaysian government is aware of the problems being faced by foreign workers due to the use of middlemen in the hiring process.”

“After the report is endorsed by the cabinet, Malaysian firms or individuals can recruit foreign workers themselves. They will have the option to choose the type of workers they want and from any specific country,” he informed the media.

As per the recommendation of the Human Resources Ministry, now every Malaysian company or individual must deposit 250,000 ringgits with the government as security money. “If a company or individual misbehaves with a worker or does not pay the salary on time or fails to fulfil any legal obligation then the government will use that security deposit to compensate the respective worker,” Kulasegaran further informed.

According to him, the Malaysian government will soon introduce the Malaysian Recruitment Agency (MRA), a job portal, especially focused on migrant workers. Foreign workers will then be able to apply online for any job as per their skills.

“The government plans to address all the difficulties associated with hiring foreign workers in a holistic manner and simplify the entire process,” said Kulasegaran. He added that the MRA must respond to a job query within 48 hours and inform the foreign job aspirant whether they are eligible or not for the applied job. The MRA must also respond to any other query within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the Nepal government in May last year had temporarily halted sending labourers to Malaysia as workers were being charged excessive fees for related services by private companies, namely Immigration Security Clearance and One Stop Centre. Domestic hiring agencies and workers have been criticising the government’s decision and have urged it to allow workers to go to Malaysia as soon as possible.

Nepali government officials have said that the two governments are working together to open the Malaysian labour market for Nepali migrants as soon as possible.

On October 29 last year, Nepal and Malaysia had signed a bilateral labour pact. The memorandum of understanding states that the employer firms in Malaysia will have to bear recruitment service charges, two-way airfare, visa fee, health check-up fee, security screening and levy charges, among others. The Nepal- Malaysia technical committee is expected to finalise all the legal provisions soon.