Govt condones slavery, says Tenaganita

The NGO calls for recognition of domestic workers as legitimate employees with all the rights and privileges thereof.

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PETALING JAYA: Tenaganita has accused the government of condoning human rights violations against domestic maids by failing to recognise them as workers under the Employment Act and refusing to sign an international agreement for their protection.

Tenaganita chief Irene Fernandez today submitted 131,372 signed copies of a petition to the Human Resources Ministry that called on the government to recognise domestic work as legitimate employment and to ratify and implement the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers.

She said the absence of a human rights framework to guide discussions and policies pertaining to the recruitment and employment of domestic workers would prolong what she described as “this institutionalised form of slavery”.

“In conjunction with International Migrants Day,” she said, “we call for slavery to be stopped in homes.”

She added that the government must undertake the duty of ensuring that no person would be subjected to inhuman treatment.

“In the cases Tenaganita handled in 2012, all the passports of the domestic workers were held by their employers,” she said.

“They were also not given a single day off for rest. Many were overworked and over 50% did not receive their monthly wages.

“Some were physically and sexually abused. There were also those who were malnourished due to being deprived of food.”

She said Tenaganita had repeatedly highlighted these abuses over more than a decade without seeing any improvement in the situation.

“The government failed to recognise domestic work as work when amendments were made to the Employment Act recently,” she said.

Referring to ILO Convention 189, she noted that Malaysia abstained when it was put to vote in Geneva in June last year. The convention, which comes into force next year, states that domestic workers “are entitled to the same working conditions as other workers”.

“Also,” Fernandze said, “there should be a standardised contract for all domestic workers that will define the type of work that they are supposed to do.

“For example, washing, cooking and caring for the elderly are different job scopes and one domestic worker should not be subjected to all these scopes when hired. Otherwise, it is blatant exploitation.

“Another reason why the areas of work should be defined is so that the proper training can be given.”

Fernandez said she was disappointed that the minister was not available to receive the petition. “The fact that he is not here shows that he regards this as a low priority issue.”