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?
Dr. Fernandez, director and co-founder of a non-Governmental organisation,
Tenaganita, which promotes the rights of migrant workers and other oppressed
sections of people in Malaysia, was speaking at a gathering of women’s rights
activists here on Monday.
<p>The Governments and international organisations such as the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund are promoting the migration and trafficking
of human labour force because they stand to gain from it. The poor Asian countries
such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines earn high foreign exchange
remittances through migrant labourers and these remittances are a source of
revenue for these Governments to pay off their debts to the international financial
institutions, says Dr. Fernandez.</p>
<p>Today, there is organised recruitment of cheap labour from one country to another
by MNCs. And many countries such as Malaysia now heavily recruit labour from
other countries to fuel their own economy, says Dr. Fernandez.</p>
<p>Thousands of migrant workers are thus trafficked into the destination country
through illegal channels with no documents.</p>
<p>There are over 30,000 women migrants working as pesticide sprayers in the plantation
industry in Malaysia for want of alternative employment. Most of them suffer
from severe health problems, especially related to reproductive health.</p>
<p>Referring to the Endosulfan issue in the State, Dr. Fernandez says the women’s
movement should take up the use of hazardous technologies as a form of violence
against women.</p>
<p>Dr. Fernandez belongs to the second generation of a migrant family from Thoppu,
Thiruvananthapuram, which settled in Malaysia in the 1930s.</p>
<p>She started her career as a high school teacher and then went on to become
a rights campaigner for women labourers.</p>
<p>A doctorate holder in social medicine, she founded the Asia Pacific Women Law
and Development which brought together women lawyers to look at women’s issues.
Since 1992, she has been chairing the Pesticide Action Network, working for
the elimination of pesticides and for sustainable agriculture.</p>
<p>Tenaganita, meaning women’s force, was founded by her in 1991 to campaign for
the rights and health care issues of over three million migrant workers in Malaysia.</p>
<p>In 1996, she was arrested and charged for `maliciously publishing false news.’
Her trial dragged on till 2003, when she was found guilty and sentenced to prison.
She is currently on bail, pending an appeal. Dr. Fernandez says she is on the
lookout for partnerships in India to take up issues of migrant women workers.
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