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?
A Bangladeshi national, who stayed for 10 hours in Kuala Lumpur Airport on
July 10 on his way to Dhaka from the United States, discovered the workers roaming
around scattered and scared in the airport.
<p>"I was going to the smoking room of a hotel in the airport and saw three
men wearing caps. I suspected them to be Bangladeshis and asked them about their
whereabouts. They then told me the story," he said, preferring not to be
named.</p>
<p>Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, the Bangladeshi expatriate, now in Dhaka,
said according to the workers, they were not allowed to enter the country because
their fingerprints did not match their records.</p>
<p>"One of them was just crying, saying that they spent over Tk 2 lakh to
get to Malaysia," he said. "What will happen to us if we are sent
back home?" he quoted a worker as saying.</p>
<p>The expatriate Bangladeshi said he then offered them some food and cigarettes.
Afterwards, he made repeated phone calls to the Bangladesh High Commission in
Kuala Lumpur, but nobody attended it.</p>
<p>He said he telephoned the Bangladesh High Commission in Kula Lumpur after arriving
in Dhaka and requested the consular, Talat Khan, to take steps to protect the
stranded workers.</p>
<p>"I wonder how citizens of a country are subject to such negligence,"
he said.</p>
<p>Since last October, around 400 workers have been denied entry to Malaysia and
sent back home, following fingerprints mismatches at the Kuala Lumpur immigration.</p>
<p>The Bangladesh government however has been unable to identify the reasons behind
such mismatches in the biometric system.</p>
<p>The government has also failed in its efforts to convince the Malaysian government
to allow those workers into the country.</p>
<p>"We asked the Malaysian government to consider the issue of the workers,
but it took a strong position against our proposal and said it will in no way
allow entry of the workers with fingerprint mismatches," Abdul Matin Chowdhury,
secretary to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, earlier
told The Daily Star.</p>
<p>Matching fingerprints through biometric system is recognised as the best technology
to detect fraud during migrations. According to the new system, workers intending
to go to Malaysia must first submit their fingerprints to the office of the
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) in Dhaka.</p>
<p>Once the workers reach Kuala Lumpur Airport immigration after all necessary
formalities, they are permitted to enter the country only if their fingerprints
match with the recorded ones.</p>
<p>According to experts, the fingerprint is a biological feature that does not
change. Therefore, several countries use the biometric system to prevent fraud
in migrations from one country to another.</p>
<p>But surprisingly, more than 400 workers’ fingerprints have not matched during
checks at immigration in Kuala Lumpur since the resumption of manpower export
to Malaysia in October last year.</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/12/d70712013521.htm</i>
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