KOTA KINABALU: Sabah employers are urged to commit to the targeted regularisation programme, which will begin as a pilot project this month.
Sabah Immigration director Datuk Sh. Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the programme aims to regulate undocumented foreign workers, particularly in the plantation and agricultural sectors.
"As a start, Sabah state authorities will coordinate early preparations by registering 274 undocumented foreign workers from three identified plantation companies.
"We urge employers to step forward and fully commit to this programme," she said in a statement after a press conference here today.
Sitti added that embassies must issue passports without obstacles to ensure the programme runs smoothly.
Following the programme's execution, the Immigration Department will conduct large-scale operations.
"Any employer who fails to report to our office by December 2024 will face prosecution, and we will not compromise on the presence of undocumented migrants in Malaysia, particularly in Sabah, as they threaten our national sovereignty."
The programme is an extension of the 2019 regularisation programme aimed at reducing the number of undocumented Indonesian and Filipino workers in Sabah. These workers, largely employed in the plantation and agricultural sectors, had no valid work permits.
The 2019 programme sought to legalise this workforce by having embassies issue passports and work permits granted through approval by the Sabah government.
"The 2019 programme allowed identified groups to obtain travel documents through their respective embassies.
"Employers would then submit applications to the Immigration Department for Temporary Work Visit Passes (PLKS), based on the state government's quota approval," Sitti said.
This initiative was temporarily suspended on April 30, 2023 due to inconsistencies in its implementation, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a shortage of passports from embassies and a lack of cooperation from employers.
However, with economic conditions improving, the state government has decided to resume the programme as the Targeted Regularisation Programme, following the July 25, 2024 meeting of the Sabah Foreign Nationals Management Committee.
The Immigration Department clarified that the project will begin with the state authorities identifying the number of required workers in relevant plantations.