Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali speaks during a press conference at the Immigration Department in Putrajaya June 1, 2018. — Picture by Zuraneeza Zulkifli

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The services of all three vendor companies contracted by the Immigration Department to carry out its rehiring exercise of undocumented foreign workers will be terminated by the end of June.

Malaysiakini reported that the three companies were MyEG Services Sdn Bhd, Iman Resources Sdn Bhd and Bukti Megah Sdn Bhd.

“As was mentioned earlier by Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the re-hiring exercise currently carried out by the three vendors is scheduled to end on June 30,” Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali was quoted saying.

Critics had questioned the Barisan Nasional administration’s decision to grant the three companies with a monopoly to process the rehiring applications from undocumented migrant workers in the past.

Among others, concerns were raised over how individuals purportedly linked to Umno had benefited from the appointment of these companies when the job could be performed directly by the Immigration Department.

The rehiring exercise was first launched on Feb 15, 2016, as part of government efforts to crackdown on undocumented migrant workers.

Muhyiddin was quoted saying that there will be no extension after June 30 and all arrangements for the rehiring programme through vendors will be stopped.

“All dealings should be done directly with the Immigration Department,” he said yesterday when revealing that 744,942 migrant workers were registered and rehired by 83,919 employers as of May 28 this year.

Speaking to Malay Mail, MyEG said it has only stopped new registrations for re-hiring at the end of December last year, and was given until the end of this month to process all incomplete cases.

“All other services under the Immigration Department are operating as normal,” said its managing director Wong Thean Soon.