Opposition MP alleges latest entity added to process chain for the "Malaysian Migrant Industrial Complex" scheme to profit companies close to ruling party.
COMMENT
By Steven Sim
In the last parliament sitting, I was informed by the home minister that the previously suspended Bestinet, a controversial company said to be owned by Umno leaders, was now in full-fledge operation.
The minister said Bestinet was in charge of BioMedical and the eVDR (“visa dengan rujukan”) module through its Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS).
While the government claimed that it did not pay Bestinet for the system, it acknowledged that Bestinet charges RM100 for each migrant worker going through the FWCMS.
With an estimated two million migrant workers each year, Bestinet will be earning approximately RM200 million a year through this monopoly. This excludes the company holding whatever fees due to the government and paid to them by employers applying through the FWCMS.
The appointment of Bestinet raises some very pertinent questions and issues.
Double medical screenings just to cater to two rentiers?
There is already a compulsory Fomema (Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency) for medical screening of all migrant workers with each screening costing up to RM190. I noted earlier that Fomema Sdn Bhd earns over RM200 million every year, having the monopoly on migrant workers medical screening.
Why then is Bestinet appointed to impose yet another round of medical screening on migrant workers?
Our migrant workers policy it seems is driven more by the needs of the “Malaysia Migrant Industrial Complex” rather than the genuine needs of the industry.
Another paper-shifter making easy money
Secondly, I have raised both inside and outside of parliament, the issue on why the immigration department cannot manage its own eVDR application?
As it is, the department is already providing online application services for other visas and passes. Bestinet is merely an agent-cum-middleman earning hundreds of millions a year doing paper shifting work for the immigration department.
Malaysia-led recruitment cartels in sender countries
Activists in other sender countries have also complained about the Malaysian government appointed monopoly establishing cartels of other recruitment and health-check agents in their respective countries.
Such a practice will lead to corruption and other abuses, including human rights infringement against migrant workers. The consequences will eventually be faced by Malaysians as our country continues to absorb migrant workers recruited through unscrupulous means and dubious processes.
Will the new immigration boss stand up against political pressure?
In July last year, I welcomed the appointment of the new director-general of the Immigration Department, former deputy chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Mustafar Ali.
I urged Mustafa to initiate three measures, namely:
• To stop and review all private vendor contracts by the Immigration Department since January 2015. Open tenders should be conducted for all contracts henceforth;
• To initiate a high-level inter-departmental investigation team to be lead by the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) together with the MACC and police, to totally crush the insider syndicate operating human trafficking activities;
• To support our call for the formation of a Royal Commission on Immigration Reform to fully clean up the entire department.
It is almost half a year since Mustafa’s appointment and we do not see any of these measures being undertaken.
Instead, more and more rentiers are being added to the “Malaysian Migrant Industrial Complex”, a multi-billion scheme profiting companies close to the ruling party, providing services for the immigration department.
This new year, will the Immigration Department boss stand up to political pressure and join us to expose these abuses and put an immediate stop to them?
Steven Sim Chee Keong is Bukit Mertajam MP.
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