Why not? Give all immigrants a GPS phone which they have to pay for. The same shall be their identification. The problems feared by governments and local citizens of immigrants are:
a) Lost job opportunities for local citizens
b) Immigrants becoming the majority and creating unrest
c) Terrorism
d) Citizenship issues when locals marry non-citizens
How would a GPS phone identification device solve these immigration issues:
a) There would be accurate information on the number and whereabouts of non-citizens.
b) When there is knowledge of these non-citizens, entrance fees and witholding taxes can be better enforced. Non-citizens shall be classified based on their income tax returns of their home country. Those that come from countries where there is no or incompatible tax systems will be classifiend under a separate class. Based on their classification, a rigorous tax/levy regime can be implemented.
c)These levies and taxes should be borne by the immigrant which will be deposited to HRDF for disbursement to qualified citizens. Why should locally operated companies pay for use of foreign talent? Firstly, this will discourage cheap and lower skilled foreigners from participating in the job market thus level the playing field for citizens who may not be interested or qualify the same jobs. Secondly, through training local citizens can upgrade their skills to perform more value added jobs (either locally or even overseas where such skills may be required).
d) If a foreigner is found to have entered the country illegally, his punishment would be to perform community service such as garbage collection until he has paid his dues. Thereafter, he can either continue as a legal immigrant or be allowed to return to his home country.
e) A record of his stay will be kept in a database. As long as he is a law-abiding citizen in his homeland and behaves accordingly in the country, the costs (in terms of levy and witholding tax) for his next visit will be reduced. To prevent the database from being tampered with, it is proposed that high security measures are institutionalised. However, if he has been in the country illegally before, he will have to pay a higher levy the next time he visits. This will encourage the immigrant to enter the country legally.
f)Illegal immigrants will not be detained in any facilities, instead they will be required to report to local police station periodically and will be electronically tagged and treated like a prisoner of war though still be allowed free movement. Alternatively, he may ‘released’ from his sentence through deportation which he must pay himself.
How much would this cost? I think in the range of RM1,000 per immigrant per year. Assuming that the number of immigrants at any one time is 3 million, this project may cost up to RM3 billion. However, this need not be foot entirely by taxpayers.
Let us look at the breakdown of the cost. GPS/phone/identification device: RM300. To be financed by the levy. Immigrant levy: RM1,000 per year. This will be used to pay for maintaining the infrastructure. For tourists, the levy is refundable.
A few questions remain:
a) How can we control immigrant population? The levy will deter those without financial means. Their ability to make or maintain a living will be another. Those who are not able to compete will obviously return to where they come from. Or deportation process applies.
b) So how many immigrants is too many? At present it is estimated that there are 3 million non-citizens in Malaysia. That is more than 10%.
c) Should there be perhaps a quota based on the GDP of the home country of the immigrant?
d) Can we effectively control such a large immigrant population?
e) How do we address inherent abuses in the system? This include the policing authority. Potential corruption can be address by letting the stakeholders be setting clear KPI to be met. For example, crime rates, traffic congestion.
f) What will happen if a non-citizen starts a business and employs only his countrymen?
g) Can the benefits of such a laissez faire system outweigh the negative impact on local employment and society in general?
But at present, not knowing the exact number of immigrants both legal and illegal is the most pressing problem which I believe this infrastructure hopes to address first.
a) Lost job opportunities for local citizens
b) Immigrants becoming the majority and creating unrest
c) Terrorism
d) Citizenship issues when locals marry non-citizens
How would a GPS phone identification device solve these immigration issues:
a) There would be accurate information on the number and whereabouts of non-citizens.
b) When there is knowledge of these non-citizens, entrance fees and witholding taxes can be better enforced. Non-citizens shall be classified based on their income tax returns of their home country. Those that come from countries where there is no or incompatible tax systems will be classifiend under a separate class. Based on their classification, a rigorous tax/levy regime can be implemented.
c)These levies and taxes should be borne by the immigrant which will be deposited to HRDF for disbursement to qualified citizens. Why should locally operated companies pay for use of foreign talent? Firstly, this will discourage cheap and lower skilled foreigners from participating in the job market thus level the playing field for citizens who may not be interested or qualify the same jobs. Secondly, through training local citizens can upgrade their skills to perform more value added jobs (either locally or even overseas where such skills may be required).
d) If a foreigner is found to have entered the country illegally, his punishment would be to perform community service such as garbage collection until he has paid his dues. Thereafter, he can either continue as a legal immigrant or be allowed to return to his home country.
e) A record of his stay will be kept in a database. As long as he is a law-abiding citizen in his homeland and behaves accordingly in the country, the costs (in terms of levy and witholding tax) for his next visit will be reduced. To prevent the database from being tampered with, it is proposed that high security measures are institutionalised. However, if he has been in the country illegally before, he will have to pay a higher levy the next time he visits. This will encourage the immigrant to enter the country legally.
f)Illegal immigrants will not be detained in any facilities, instead they will be required to report to local police station periodically and will be electronically tagged and treated like a prisoner of war though still be allowed free movement. Alternatively, he may ‘released’ from his sentence through deportation which he must pay himself.
How much would this cost? I think in the range of RM1,000 per immigrant per year. Assuming that the number of immigrants at any one time is 3 million, this project may cost up to RM3 billion. However, this need not be foot entirely by taxpayers.
Let us look at the breakdown of the cost. GPS/phone/identification device: RM300. To be financed by the levy. Immigrant levy: RM1,000 per year. This will be used to pay for maintaining the infrastructure. For tourists, the levy is refundable.
A few questions remain:
a) How can we control immigrant population? The levy will deter those without financial means. Their ability to make or maintain a living will be another. Those who are not able to compete will obviously return to where they come from. Or deportation process applies.
b) So how many immigrants is too many? At present it is estimated that there are 3 million non-citizens in Malaysia. That is more than 10%.
c) Should there be perhaps a quota based on the GDP of the home country of the immigrant?
d) Can we effectively control such a large immigrant population?
e) How do we address inherent abuses in the system? This include the policing authority. Potential corruption can be address by letting the stakeholders be setting clear KPI to be met. For example, crime rates, traffic congestion.
f) What will happen if a non-citizen starts a business and employs only his countrymen?
g) Can the benefits of such a laissez faire system outweigh the negative impact on local employment and society in general?
But at present, not knowing the exact number of immigrants both legal and illegal is the most pressing problem which I believe this infrastructure hopes to address first.
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