PUTRAJAYA, May 30 — The sudden influx of foreign workers into Malaysia is due to employers rushing to meet the foreign worker deadline tomorrow (May 31), said Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.

He said under normal circumstances, the daily arrival of foreign workers was between 500 and 1,000 people, but the number of arrivals per day had increased to 2,500 people on May 22 and up to 4,500 on May 27.

"The Immigration Department expects arrival numbers to continue to increase until tomorrow, based on information from airlines which have increased flight frequency to meet demand,” he said in a statement today.

In order to overcome the situation, Ruslin said his team, in collaboration with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, have taken immediate steps to manage this congestion at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for passenger comfort.

He said the measures implemented include increasing the number of counters to speed up the review and verification process; and increasing the number of Immigration officers to manage the arrival of foreign workers and manage their welfare such as providing food and drinks when they are at the KLIA terminal.

"The Immigration Department will continue to monitor and improve this situation. It also urges employers to provide their full cooperation by coming immediately to complete the Immigration inspection process of their employees, which will in turn reduce congestion at the arrival hall,” he also said.

On March 8, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was reported to have said that the ministry would not budge from the May 31, 2024 deadline for the hiring of foreign workers through the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTK) 2.0 due to national security reasons.

The decision was reached collectively by all enforcement agencies under the Home Ministry and relevant ministries involved in the recalibration programme. — Bernama