Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
Parliamentary secretary to the Home Ministry Datuk Paduka Abdul Rahman Ibrahim
said they were working as domestic maids as well as in the factory, construction,
manufacturing, services and plantation sectors.
<p>"The five countries with the most workers here are Indonesia with 1,172,
990, Nepal (199,962), India (130,768), Vietnam (96,892) and Bangladesh (64,156),"
he said in reply to Abdul Fatah Harun (PAS-Rantau Panjang).</p>
<p>The workers were recruited by 146 companies which have been given approval
to supply and manage foreign workers.</p>
<p>He said these companies had to ensure that each worker brought in had undergone
an induction course in their home country, was recorded in the biometric system
upon entry and had a medical check-up before starting their employment.</p>
<p>The workers were also screened by employment agencies in the country to ensure
that they could perform their duties while the government would conduct periodic
checks to ensure that the regulations were observed, he said.</p>
<p>To a question from Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN-Larut) on the social
problems involving foreign workers, Abdul Rahman said most of the criminal cases
involved illegal immigrants.– BERNAMA
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