PUTRAJAYA (Feb 3): Strict action will be taken against employers who dismissed local workers in order to replace them with foreign nationals, Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar said.

He said the rationale behind the government’s Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan was not to replace locals with foreign workers but rather to meet manpower needs in five critical sectors.

“No excuse will be accepted if the government finds that this has been happening to the extent of local workers losing their source of income,” he told a media conference after presenting certificates to graduates of the Social Security Organisation (Socso) 2023 Professional Certification programme here on Friday.

Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have previously claimed that local workers in critical sectors such as manufacturing, construction, plantations, agriculture and services (restaurants) have been laid off to be replaced by foreign workers.

The Foreign Worker Management Special Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Jan 10 agreed to create a Relaxation of Employment of Foreign Workers Plan, in addition to reimplementing the Labour Recalibration Programme, as a measure to meet the demand for migrant workers.

Meanwhile, Sivakumar said the government has held discussions with Indonesia regarding the issue of an increase in the cost to hire domestic helpers from that country.

“The government takes note of the matter and efforts have and will be made to ensure the process of bringing in domestic helpers from Indonesia do not involve very high costs,” he said.

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono was recently reported to have said that Indonesia was ready to discuss the matter in the next joint working group meeting.

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