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?
They claimed that their employer, cleaning company Ardent Services, cited indiscipline
and misconduct during off-duty hours as the reason for terminating their contracts.
<p>One of them, Bo Bo Tin Ko, 25, said three months ago, they demanded an explanation
for the deduction of part of their wages by the employer.</p>
<p>"The management ignored our grouses. We had no choice but to lodge a complaint
with the Myanmar Embassy," he said, adding that two of his colleagues were
sent home on Sunday.</p>
<p>He said although their employer was Ardent Services, they were working in two
hotels in the city.</p>
<p>Bobo said their initial contract endorsed by the embassy stated their pay was
RM21 per working day of eight hours. Overtime was at RM3.93 per hour.</p>
<p>"However we were later given another contract stating our pay was RM19
per working day and overtime at RM3 per hour.</p>
<p>"Our embassy mediated this and we got the original rates. We received
all back wages last month but February’s pay is still outstanding.</p>
<p>"We feel the management is creating reasons to get rid of us," he
said.</p>
<p>He said on Saturday, their manager identified only as Rozlan gave them a ‘memorandum’
stating that their work contract had been terminated due to indiscipline and
social problems.</p>
<p>"The memorandum said the termination was due to police visits to our apartments
following complaints that we were involved in anti-social activities.</p>
<p>"We were accused of disturbing the peace at the Season Towers apartments
where we live," he said.</p>
<p>However, the men claimed this was unsubstantiated</p>
<p>"We have not been a nuisance and have not been anti-social. In fact, when
a group of plainclothes men claiming to be policemen visited us at 2am on March
30, we asked for their identification. They ignored us and ransacked our homes,"
he said.</p>
<p>"They did not check our passports but said they wanted to see if we had
prostitutes and firearms in our homes. They spent less than 10 minutes at our
homes," he said.</p>
<p>The men were brought into Malaysia in three batches last August and October
and in January.
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