A body of legal practitioners in Malaysia yesterday urged its government to immediately cease the ongoing crackdown on undocumented migrants, many of who are from Bangladesh, and embark on a comprehensive legalisation programme allowing the migrants to independently apply for regularisation.

"This crackdown instills fear among migrant workers and deters them all, even those with proper documents, from coming out to work. This has wide ramifications for the productivity of major economic sectors such as agriculture and construction, "said Malaysian Bar in a statement yesterday.

Malaysia's immigration department began the nationwide operation dubbed “Ops Mega 3.0" on July 1, a day after it ended a rehiring programme on June 30. In July, the Malaysian immigration department detained a Bangladesh national and seized 85 passports in a raid in Kuala Lumpur, where he operated to rehire undocumented foreign workers. Some 1,300 migrants, including 300 Bangladeshis, were detained in the last five days, Malaysian media reported.

In the statement, George Varughese, president of Malaysian Bar, said migrant workers are needed for the economic development of the country, and that this crackdown in its present form benefits no one.

On July 4,130 migrant rights bodies from various countries made a similar appeal to the Malaysian government.

The new Malaysian government, which came to power early May, announced it wanted to reduce dependence on foreign workers. Around one million of the six million foreign workers in the country are Bangladeshis, half of whom are either in the process of regularisation or were defrauded by the agents and brokers, said migrants and rights activists.

The Malaysian Bar said a significant number of migrants are undocumented for no fault of their own, but because the Malaysian government provided no avenue for them to independently legalise their status.