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?
BY RAM ANAND
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 ― Malaysia will proceed with plans to amend local labour laws as part of its process to comply with the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) even if it does not come into force due to uncertainty over the next United States leadership, a Human Resources Ministry official said today.
The ministry’s principal assistant secretary Kesavan Karuppiah said Malaysia “intends” to improve its labour laws regardless whether the new US president continues to pursue the TPPA agenda.
“We want to move forward, this gives us an opportunity to move forward, the amendments will take place,” Kesavan told a Bar Council consultation on the Labour Chapter of TPPA today.
He was commenting on the possibility of TPPA not being pursued by the next US president, as both Republican and Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have disagreed with the agreement in the past.
The US presidential elections will take place this year, while the ratification and enforcement of TPPA is only expected in early 2018 at the earliest.
Source: Malay Mail Online
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