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?
Foreign workers, opposition lawmakers, trade union officials and human rights activists have come together to denounce the plan, to be tabled in parliament in March, as indecent discrimination against vulnerable migrant workers and a violation of international labour rules and codes.
<P>‘’The
plan discriminates and promotes prejudice against migrant workers…it is unbelievable,"
said Irene Fernandez, executive director of ‘Tenaganita’, an NGO helping
migrant workers. ‘’These measures are against international labour rules
and codes.’’</P><P>The measures are said to be part of a major shift
in ‘managing’ foreign workers from the human resources ministry to the
home affairs ministry which, some critics say, automatically categorises migrant
workers as a security problem.</P><P>Also, under the proposed legislation many
functions of the human resources, tourism and health ministries will come under
home affairs that oversees police, international security and the People’s
Volunteer Corps or ‘RELA’ that is now gunning for some 800,000 undocumented
migrant workers in the country.</P><P>Under the plan, the workers, mostly employed
in the construction, manufacturing and plantation sectors, will be confined to
their ramshackle quarters called ‘kongsi’ that are made of zinc and
plywood and located inside or near their workplaces. The proposed rule will apply
even on their days off.</P><P>Off-duty workers usually head for the cinemas, shopping
complexes or beer parlours. Others hang out together in large groups at town centres.
But if the new rule is passed, it will see them confined to their quarters unless
they have express permission from employers to leave their workplaces.</P><P>Employers
are also required to keep a logbook detailing the daily movements of their foreign
employees for inspection by police. " This way we can keep track of the workers
and arrest them if they are involved in crime," said Inspector General of
the Police Musa Hassan.</P><P>While police statistics reveal that serious crime
in Malaysia climbed 40 percent in 2006 over the previous year, only two percent
of it was attributable to foreign workers. However, the media, the public and
lawmakers frequently blame foreign workers, who account for 12 percent of the
total workforce of 12 million, for the spike in crime rates.</P><P>The bulk of
the blame falls on Indonesians who form 65 percent of the foreign workforce, followed
by Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Indians and Vietnamese. Police estimate that an additional
700,000, mostly Indonesians, work in this country without valid documents.</P><P>The
new measures came under heavy criticism with Amnesty International (AI), Malaysia,
saying migrant workers, like ordinary people, are entitled to fundamental rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in the country’s
constitution.</P><P>"This includes the right to liberty and security; to
equality before the law without discrimination, the right to freedom of movement
as well as to the presumption of innocence," said AI country director Josef
Roy Benedict. "These measures are themselves human rights violation and a
form of punishment," he said, adding a person’s liberty can be suspended
only if he is proved to have committed a crime that warrants imprisonment by a
court of law and after a fair trial.</P><P>AI warned that the use of migrants
as scapegoats for criminal acts will increase racial and xenophobic prejudice
against the migrant community in Malaysia.</P><P>The Washington-based Human Rights
Watch (HRW) also condemned the government’s plan to, what it said, "virtually
lock up workers." In a statement, the rights group said the resulting isolation
would also put migrant workers at risk of other abuses.</P><P>”Instead of improving
the situation, Malaysia’s proposed foreign worker bill will dramatically
worsen the situation,” said Nisha Varia, senior researcher on women’s rights
in Asia for HRW.</P><P>"It’s shocking that Malaysia is even considering
such a proposal that would give employers freedom to lock up workers," she
said.</P><P>Even the semi-official ‘New Straits Times’ daily voiced
apprehension, saying it was questionable whether controlling the movement of foreign
workers would "quell the rising tide of crime."</P><P>"The question
is whether confinement would be a justifiable pre-emptive measure — in terms
of fair treatment of the foreign workers and the extra responsibilities that would
be visited upon the employer to make sure that his workers stay confined, and
presumably out of mischief," the daily said in a Feb. 20 editorial.</P><P>"In
addition, the cramped and sometimes deplorable living conditions in the typical
kongsi are hardly conditions one should want to confine workers within,"
the daily said. "Such well-meaning solutions may work in an ideal world.
But in the present circumstances, given the sheer numbers and distribution of
foreign workers in Malaysia and the remoteness of many worksites using these workers,
such measures might not only be unenforceable but might well create new problems
without solving the ones they target," the daily said.</P><P>Critics said
existing rules already severely restrict migrant workers. They are barred from
marrying local women, opening bank accounts, changing jobs or free travel.</P><P>”They
are constantly stopped, questioned and arrested even when they have valid documents,’’
said Fernandez.</P><P>Foreign workers too have expressed shock at the open discrimination.
"This is a form of slavery," said Ahmed Badulla, 27, an iron foundry
worker from Pakistan. "We are so busy working day and night to sent money
home. How can we commit crime?"</P><P>”This country is very rich and there
are lots of jobs but there is a lot of discrimination too,’’ said his
compatriot Tajul Mohideen. (END/2007)</P><P><I>Source: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36733</I>
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