Amnesty won't prevent future influx of illegals

Chow Kum Hor, New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur

The Hari Raya cheer came early for the estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants in the country, the bulk of whom are Indonesians.

Instead of spending Syawal in the firetrap kongsi near construction sites that they inhabit, they can now look forward to celebrating the festival with loved ones at home.

That is made possible by the government's move to grant amnesty to the illegal workers, regardless of whether they had overstayed their visas, entered the country illegally or have no travel papers at all.

For them, the cat-and-mouse game with the authorities has thankfully come to an end; they can now walk away scot-free during the two-week period starting last Friday.

The estimated 6,000 foreign workers held at detention camps nationwide are also benefiting from the pardon.

Under the law, foreigners who enter the country illegally can be jailed up to five years or fined up to RM10,000 and whipped up to six times.

Since the announcement, thousands of Indonesians have thronged the republic's embassy in Kuala Lumpur to sort out the paperwork, so that they can join the exodus back home.

The government has identified 16 exit points by land, sea and air for the foreigners to leave, including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the Pasir Gudang Port.

Indonesia has also arranged for ships to ferry its nationals back.

The current amnesty is the second offered to foreign workers.

In 2002, some half a million illegal immigrants took advantage of the exercise to return home.

There are several reasons for the current amnesty. One is to flush out the hordes of illegal immigrants, a great number of whom, with no jobs, resort to crime to make ends meet.

The approaching Hari Raya celebration only served to make the repatriation exercise more appealing for those who long to be with the family, but have no travel documents.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Zainal Rampak says the amnesty is one of the best ways to rid the country of illegals although he had reservations over its effectiveness in the long term.

"The government can't keep on clamping down on illegals, stretching its resources to the limit. Don't forget, we are also feeding those in detention camps.

"All these expenses come from the government's coffers," says Zainal.

He adds that MTUC has always been against the entry of foreign workers -- legal or otherwise -- save for the plantation, construction and domestic help sectors.

But is the present amnesty a mere window for the illegals to return home to celebrate the festival, only to return with a vengeance later on -- and hope for another pardon exercise?

"There should not be a third amnesty. The government cannot do it so often.

"Otherwise, there will be a certain level of expectation and this is not good," says Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsudin Bardan.

Zainal is outright pessimistic: "They (the illegal workers) are sure to return. Just wait and see after Raya."

His pessimism is not entirely baseless.

In the year following the 2002 amnesty, illegals flocked back in even greater numbers. For the first six months of 2003, 512 were nabbed trying to enter Johor alone, roughly double the figure of the previous year.

The government has announced it will step up enforcement along the borders and the waterways in anticipation of an influx in the coming months.

Alluding to the possibility of the immigrants' return, Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid says: "If they do come back, they will not be able to hide from our enforcement officers."

As reassuring as Azmi's pledge may sound, enforcement officers can only do so much, what with the organized human trafficking syndicates becoming ever more adept at the authorities' tactics.

For Shamsudin, ridding the country of illegal immigrants, whether through crackdowns or amnesty programs, can only be a short-term measure.

The underlying problem must be addressed -- the shortage of workers in the country.

It sounds ironic but the MEF is in principle against the employment of foreign labor, cheap as they may be compared with the locals.

"The MEF supports the government's target of having only five percent foreign labor in the country's workforce by 2010," says Shamsudin.

Right now, official figures put the rate at 10 percent but if illegal workers are taken into consideration, it could swell to 17 or 18 percent.

Shamsudin says the government can do more to reduce the country's dependence on foreign labor.

This includes holding more technical and vocational courses for the youth.

"Multi-skilling and multi-tasking are areas Malaysians have to look into. They cannot be good at doing only one task.

"For example in Malaysia, hotels employ an average of 1.8 to two workers to a room. In Europe, it is about 0.5 to a room," says Shamsudin.

Zainal, however, balks at the idea that employers would actually prefer cheaper foreign workers to locals who can ask up to several times more in salary.

"Just a few days ago, somebody came to me complaining that he had gone to a factory in Bangi applying to be a production operator," he says.

"During the interview, the employer asked him if he had a degree or diploma. Now, if he had a degree or diploma, would he want to apply to be an operator in the first place?

"The factory is just finding excuses not to employ locals. All this will only result in an artificial shortage of workers in the manufacturing sector."

In any event, the gap between demand and supply in the local labor market is not expected to close anytime soon.

Until then, illegal foreign workers will find Malaysia a working haven. After all, more than a few are already putting their money on another round of amnesty several years down the road.