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?
Manforce Resources Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Paul Wong said the workers’
claim that their salaries were different from what was promised them, was not
true.</p>
<p>"The employer who hired the workers never promised them a basic salary
of RM750.</p>
<p>"What they said was that the workers could get a minimum total income
of RM750 a month, which includes overtime pay and allowances," Wong told
The Malay Mail yesterday.</p>
<p>He said this could be the result of a misunderstanding between the workers
and the people who recruited them in Pakistan.</p>
<p>"We have partnered a licensed agent there to recruit workers.</p>
<p>"They, in turn, employ sub-agents to do the job, which is why the misunderstanding
happened," said Wong whose company started recruiting Pakistani workers
last August.</p>
<p>Last month, The Malay Mail highlighted the plight of some 50 Pakistani workers
who claimed to have been left in the lurch by the agent who brought them into
the country.</p>
<p>The workers were previously employed by a wood processing company at its factories
in Klang, and Malacca but they stopped working when they found that their salaries
were different from what the agent had promised them.</p>
<p>"These workers had high expectations when they came here because of what
the sub-agents told them.</p>
<p>" So, when they found out that the situation was different, they started
to create trouble and refused to work," claimed Wong.</p>
<p>He said Manforce had to separate these problematic workers from the rest of
the workers so that they would not influence the others.</p>
<p>"We brought the problematic workers to a hostel in Mutiara Damansara while
we tried to find a solution.</p>
<p>"We had given our guarantee to the employer, so we had to find an amicable
solution," said Wong.</p>
<p>Regarding the payment that the workers said they had to settle before they
are allowed to go home, Wong said they had to ask for the payment as Manforce
and its partner in Pakistan had to reimburse the employer for the levies and
fees they paid for the workers.</p>
<p>The workers claimed that they have to pay between RM2,000 and RM2,500 to the
agent before leaving Malaysia.</p>
<p>"Also, we cannot send all the workers back at the same time because it
will create problems for us and our partner since we have to fork out money
to reimburse the employer," said Wong.</p>
<p>He also refuted the workers’ claim that Manforce did not provide food
for them while they were staying at the hostel.</p>
<p>"We do provide them with basic food," said Wong, adding that there
are only eight of the workers left at the hostel, while the rest have either
been sent home or gone back to their jobs.
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