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?
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general G. Rajasekaran said
the Government should rethink its decision carefully.
<p>"This can lead to abuse by the employers and create an acute and severe
problem in the nation. As a result the Government will be confronted with a
new set of problems caused by its effort to resolve the issue of shortage of
workers," he said. </p>
<p>"The new foreign employee may work without a work permit because the employer
will not do things legally and when the authorities catch up, it is the foreign
worker who will be arrested." </p>
<p>Rajasekaran said that in the past two weeks they had three different groups
of more than 100 workers who reported that they were not paid. </p>
<p>Two groups have lodged complaints with the Indian High Commission. </p>
<p>He was responding to Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid’s statement
that foreign workers under the amnesty programme could come into the country
on social passes and would be allowed to register as workers provided their
applications are made through their local employers. </p>
<p>Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam
said that whatever the Government did it must be fair to the foreign workers
and not allow any abuse or exploitation of workers to occur. </p>
<p>"The intake of foreign workers must follow procedures and regulations.
We have learned from past experience that it can get messy if any foreign worker
is allowed to work without checking their background and proper legal documents.
</p>
<p>"While we appreciate the fact that they contribute to the employment sector,
any tourist or visitor on social visit pass should be vetted properly before
they are allowed to work," he said. </p>
<p>Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) director of communications
Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman called on the Government to re-evaluate its foreign
workers’ recruitment policy before embarking on any "desperate act of turning
those with tourist visas (into) workers." </p>
<p>He added that the Government should explore ways to mobilise the nation’s unemployed
graduates and youths.
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com