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?
But their employers, many of whom pay them as little as RM240 a month, are
getting away with it, given the lack of a minimum wage policy for foreign workers
in the country.
<p>"We have been receiving reports every month from the estate employers
or owners that their Indonesian workers have absconded from their premises,"
said Acting Consul-General of the Republic of Indonesia, Didik Eko Pujianto,
Saturday.</p>
<p>"When we investigated, we discovered that the workers ran away because
they were not treated well. The main reason being they were being underpaid,"
he said.</p>
<p>Didik was speaking to reporters after launching an Indonesian Fashion Exhibition
– Batik and Embroidery – organised by the Dharma Wanita Persatuan Consulate
General of Indonesia Kota Kinabalu branch here on Saturday.</p>
<p>"These Indonesian plantation workers are paid a daily wage of RM8 per
day which amounts to RM240 per month.</p>
<p>"Some have to endure deduction due to their levy for the work permits
like RM50 per month and would be left with RM190. Suppose RM5 is spent on food
and drink daily, that brings it to RM150 and finally the workers would be left
with RM40 in their hands which is barely enough to support themselves,"
he asserted.</p>
<p>Didik said the wage for Indonesian workers employed in the country has not
been raised since the 1970s.</p>
<p>On whether the Consulate would propose to the Federal Government to have a
minimum wage policy for Indonesian workers, he lamented that the Malaysian Government
does not have such system (to set the minimum wage) for foreign workers yet.</p>
<p>"Once the workers abscond, the employers would return the passports and
supporting documents to the Consulate here as those documents belong to us.
"Actually the employers are allowed to keep the passports to do the necessary
documents for the workers like acquiring foreign employment cards from the Immigration
Department, as stated in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between
the Malaysian and Indonesian government a few years ago," he said.</p>
<p>On whether the absconded workers could seek help at the Consulate, Didik said
by right the workers should come to the Consulate to resolve the problem.</p>
<p>However, many are ignorant about how to go about solving their problem and
some may not have money to come to the Consulate here.</p>
<p>"So, when these Indonesian workers are caught by the local enforcement
agencies, they are considered illegals with no documents and subsequently, legal
action is taken against them.</p>
<p>"Some are whipped and sent to the Temporary Detention Centre to be deported
whereas the employers get away scot-free. There are also cases were Indonesian
workers were made sweet promises by middle persons and irresponsible quarters.
But at the end, they were charged as illegal workers while the employers are
yet to be judged," he said.</p>
<p>Didik urged the State Government to address the matter and take action not
only on Indonesian workers charged as illegals but also on employers or owners
of the plantations or companies that are not taking care of these workers’ welfare.</p>
<p>"So far, I have yet to see any employer being penalised."</p>
<p>Normally, he said employers would pay the workers’ levy and fees for other
supporting documents for the first year. But when the time comes for renewal,
some plantation companies save on cost by not renewing all the foreign workers
documents and fees.</p>
<p>On whether the Consulate monitors and checks every plantation to ensure all
Indonesian workers are legal, Didik said:</p>
<p>"We do that by working together with the East Malaysian Plantation Association
(EMPA) that has 103 members with estates and have a total of 125,000 Indonesian
labourers based on last year’s data.</p>
<p>"We also discovered that the small estates have no problems of Indonesian
workers absconding unlike the big companies that have over 1,000 workers."</p>
<p>On abused maids, he claimed the Consulate is receiving an average of a case
every month which include complaints of physical abuse and non-Muslim employers
forcing Muslim maids to bathe dogs or eat pork, among others.</p>
<p>On statistics of illegal Indonesians in the State, Didik assured there are
no illegal Indonesians and even if there are, the figure would account for about
one to two per cent whereby they may have become illegals due to employers’
bad treatment and the existing system here.</p>
<p>He also assured that there are also no Indonesian street children abandoned
in Sabah and dared the media to bring one Indonesian street child to the Consulate,
offering RM1,000 per street child as reward.</p>
<p>Of 170,000 Indonesian workers in Sabah based on last year’s statistic, 150,000
are working in plantations and the rest work in the construction sector and
also as maids.
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