KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department has refuted allegations of wrongdoing made by Tenaganita executive director Irene Fernandez in an Indonesian daily.

Its director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad said Fernandez should also hand over any evidence she had of such allegations so that action could be taken against those responsible.

The department, he said, also did not collect any payment for the processing or issuance of documents under the Government’s 6P programme for workers and illegals,” he said in an interview with mStar here yesterday.

In the interview with Jakarta Post two days ago, Fernandez had said that Malaysia was not a safe place for foreign workers, discouraging Indonesia from sending their nationals here.

She also made various allegations of wrongdoing against the department, particularly over the 6P programme, and said there was no legal framework to protect foreign workers.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said Fernandez might be called in to give her statement.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Association of Foreign Maids Agencies (Papa) deputy president Kol (Rtd) Muhamed Maidin said Malaysia had been ranked the second-safest country to work in in South-East Asia. He said existing the memorandum of understanding signed by the Malaysian and Indonesian governments had both addressed workers’ rights.

Papa vice-president Foo Yong Hooi said it was unfair to generalise that all Malaysian employers abuse their maids.

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