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?
The delegation is led by Foreign Undersecretary Jose Brillantes and will be
with Malaysian offficials for a series of talks until Feb 26, it said.
<p>"The delegation will reiterate the request of the Philippine government
for a humane, orderly and systematic repatriation," the foreign office
said in a statement.</p>
<p>Malaysia has vowed to jail, whip or deport all illegal migrants by March 1.</p>
<p>It had earlier offered an amnesty program that began on Oct 29 last year. Before
the amnesty Malaysia estimated there were more than a million illegal workers
in the country, mostly from Indonesia but also from the Philippines, Burma,
Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.</p>
<p>Nearly 400,000, mostly Indonesians, left without facing any penalty during
the first three months of the amnesty but others have remained clinging to jobs
in the construction, plantation and service industries in the face of unemployment
at home.</p>
<p><b>Gone into hiding</b></p>
<p>About 17,500 Filipinos had signed up for the amnesty, but only 6,600 have actually
left the country voluntarily, official figures showed.</p>
<p>Reports on the ground said those that did not take advantage of the amnesty
have gone into hiding to elude arrest, the foreign office said.</p>
<p>In 2002, thousands of Filipinos were expelled from Malaysia’s Sabah state,
causing a diplomatic row between the Southeast Asian neighbors amid allegations
of abuse.</p>
<p>The foreign office said the delegation will also look for ways of assisting
Filipino migrants to re-enter Malaysia will legal papers and documents and returning
to their old jobs. – AFP
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