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?
He said the ministry was ready to discuss with the consortium on the new rates which would be appropriate under the prevailing condition.
<P>"The request to increase the rate is rational as the premium
paid by employers for foreign workers in this country is still the lowest with
a ceiling of RM75 a month," he told reporters after visiting the Marang district
education office here today.</P><P>He was commenting on a news report yesterday
on the possibility of the premium being raised after Konsortium Takaful Insuran
Malaysia took over the issuance of the insurance policy.</P><P>Abdul Rahman said
a lot of employers in the country did not insure foreign workers because they
assumed that they did not have to do so as they had paid the levy and tax for
the workers in their homeland.</P><P>He said at present almost 20 per cent of
1.85 million foreign workers in the country were not covered by insurance and
employers who failed to do so were liable under the Workers Act 1955 and if convicted,
employers face a RM50,000 fine or two months jail or both.</P><P>"Most of
the immigrants who are not covered by insurance are in the restaurant, agriculture
and construction sectors," he said.</P><P>As the insurance coverage is compulsory,
he asked foreign workers who felt that they were not insured to report to the
Human Resources Ministry for further action. –BERNAMA</P><P><I>Source: http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/state_news/news.php?id=246316&cat=et</I>
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