Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (The Edge filepix by Low Yen Yeing)

NIBONG TEBAL (June 4): The government does not plan to extend the deadline for the hiring of foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, into the country through the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTM) 2.0, which ended on May 31 this year.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said this, adding that he feels that the period given by Malaysia has been reasonable to manage all foreign worker procedures.

"When we fixed the date (May 13), we factored in all the meaningful processes from the quota approval, health checks, obtaining the visa, and and arranging flight tickets," he told reporters after attending the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Penang Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak's visit to the Seberang Perai Prison here on Tuesday.

"Recently, there was a surge of over 20,000 foreign workers over four days (May 28 to 31) into the country, and when we checked, among those who entered were those who had their visas approved 10 years ago. The issue is why wait till May 31 to bring them (foreign workers) in."

Saifuddin said according to the projected number with the recent trend of more than 20,000 entries, the country will have more than 2.6 million foreign workers by December this year, exceeding the target of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), which is 2.5 million foreign workers.

He explained that the influx of foreign workers has reached the target of foreign manpower requirements for the manufacturing, construction and service sectors, while for the plantation and agriculture sectors, the government will process according to the existing quota approvals for now, without involving new approvals and based on cases.

Local media reported that Bangladesh had requested Malaysia to allow nearly 17,000 Bangladeshi workers, who had approved work visas but missed the May 31 deadline, to arrive in Malaysia by extending the entry period.

In another development, Saifuddin said he does not want to interfere in the case of a police escort to a VIP being investigated for the alleged assault of a disabled man, but instead, he had handed the case over to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.

"It's a matter for the IGP (to look into). I will not interfere; it is up to the IGP," he said.

Last Friday (May 31), Razarudin said the Royal Malaysia Police would summon the officers involved in the investigation to Bukit Aman, to assist in investigations in the near future.