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 Environmental Investigation Agency said Malaysian timber exports included
wood cut illegally from the vast but threatened rainforests of neighbouring
Indonesia and warned that US demand for these exports could surge under a free-trade arrangement.
<p>“With no current means of preventing illegally sourced wood products from
entering our markets, it is irresponsible for the US to continue to push for
free trade with nations that play prominent roles in the illegal timber trade,”
said the report, written by the group’s US-based activists.</p>
<p>“This policy will only continue to destroy forests and livelihoods abroad
while harming the timber industry at home.” Malaysia, which is Washington’s
10th-largest trading partner, is in talks to negotiate a free-trade pact with
the United States by year-end. It exported around 3.7 million cubic metres of
sawn timber last year, up 16 percent from 2004, government data show.</p>
<p>The Environmental Investigation Agency, which says its mission is to probe
and expose environmental crime, and other green groups have said that more than
a third of Malaysian timber exports come from illegal logs, mostly from Indonesia.</p>—Reuters
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