We are once again restructuring how foreign worker quotas are approved and managed. This follows a Cabinet decision on July 1, moving the One-Stop Centre (OSC) from the Home Ministry to the Ministry of Human Resources, with applications now processed through the eQuota module under the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System. The government says this will reduce congestion at the OSC and end case-by-case approvals. The platform, however, has previously faced allegations of extortion involving migrant workers, raising questions over whether shifting oversight between ministries actually changes outcomes on the ground. With a new foreign worker management division being set up and physical verification counters potentially going digital, what would it take for this reform to be more than an administrative change?

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