Planning a nice family vacation to the Land Down Under?
Well, if you’re a young Malaysian, aged 17 to 35-years-old, it won’t be a surprise if you get your visa application declined for your Australian holidays. Wondering why?
Because irresponsible young Malaysian adults are illegally making their way to Australia to work agricultural jobs such as fruit picking because they’re looking for a better life. Though it’s not wrong to want a better life, there are legal procedures that should not be bypassed.
As according to The Star, 5 Malaysians were stopped from entering Australia at the Perth International Airport from Kuala Lumpur after they were found to be entering the country to work illegally in farms.
Another Malaysian was also caught after admitting to facilitating the group’s travel arrangements, to whom all had tourist visas.
The 34-year-old facilitator told immigration clearance officers that the group were his ‘family and friends’, but later admitted that he was paid RM500 per person to arrange their flight plans as well as securing them jobs at a farm in Western Australia.
“Investigations did not find any evidence of human trafficking,” said the Australian Border Force (ABF) in a statement.
Among those caught is the facilitator, 2 men aged between 3-years-old and 33-years-old and 2 women aged 20-years-old and 27-years-old, who were placed in immigration detention before they were returned to Malaysia. A 17-year-old male who was caught with the group was placed in an Alternative Place of Detention (Apod) before being sent back on the same flight to Kuala Lumpur.
“Unfortunately, we see foreign nationals attempting to enter Australia to work illegally on a regular basis. The ABF remains committed to tackling foreign worker exploitation,” said ABF Regional Commander James Copeman.
“Illegal foreign workers can be extremely vulnerable to underpayment and poor treatment, while the unscrupulous individuals facilitating them are profiting at their expense,” he added.
Hence, thanks to these Malaysians who seek out these alternative lifestyles illegally, many Malaysians who do not plan on overstaying their visit have had their visas rejected and plane tickets wasted.
Seriously, why can’t ya’ll just migrate the right way, or just deal with living in Malaysia like the rest of us?