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 Bill, which will be tabled for first reading at the Dewan Rakyat
next month, will pave the way for the ministry to take over some of the responsibilities of the Human Resources as well as Tourism ministries.
<P>Home Minister Datuk
Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the move would allow the ministry to manage foreign
workers the moment they entered Malaysia. </P><P>“We want to avoid overlapping
of work,” he told reporters here on Tuesday. </P><P>“We manage the workers
via the issuance of work permits and making sure employers pay the levy and insurance.
If the employers do not pay up, we don’t issue the permits. </P><P>“We
also have the resources to control two million foreign workers, unlike the other
two ministries.” </P><P>Currently, the hiring of foreign workers, including
maids, comes under the Human Resources Ministry, although work permits are issued
by the Home Ministry. </P><P>Among other responsibilities to be taken over by
the ministry are holding the induction course for foreign workers when they arrive
here and checking if those who applied for the Malaysia, My Second Home programme
were genuine applicants. </P><P>However, if workers faced problems like employers
not paying their salaries, the matter would still be under the purview of the
Human Resources Ministry. </P><P>“Similarly, if any worker commits a crime,
it would be handled by the police. Such matters will not be under us,” he
added. </P><P>He also said a new director-general post would be created with the
move.</P><P><I>Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/2/13/nation/20070213174718&sec=nation</I>
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com