Video of alleged abuse of foreign worker goes viral

 

A video which shows a man, purportedly a foreign worker at a Top Glove factory, being abused by a member of the security forces has gone viral, prompting outrage and calls for an investigation.

The video was one of two linked on a Facebook account showing a foreign man's picture with what was purportedly a Top Glove worker identity card.

In the video, a man is seen rolling about on grass while another individual is standing over him and wielding what appears to be a whip. The latter appears to be in military fatigues, while both men are wearing masks.

A source familiar with the situation told Malaysiakini that workers are fearful but "want the videos to go public and for the abuse to stop".

The source said the workers were allegedly being punished for quarantine violations.

"This quarantine seems to be (at Top Glove's facility in) Meru, the workers said it’s happening regularly but they are so scared to speak out.

"The lockdown authorities were very cruel," they said.

Klang Utara police chief Nurulhuda Mohd Salleh urged any victims to come forward and lodge a report.

"So far we have not received any reports. We ask the victim or anyone (else involved) to come forward to make a report, and we will open an investigation," she told Malaysiakini.

North South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira called for immediate action on the matter.

"Physical abuse and coercion must never be tolerated. Please ensure migrant workers have a safe hotline to complain to an external party for further investigations.

"If these abuses are committed by uniformed enforcers, they must be prosecuted. No one is above the law," he said.

He said that if such alleged violations kept occurring, Malaysia could be demoted to Tier 3 on the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.

"If we don’t resolve this, we are bound to end up on tier 3 next year on the TIP report. Then, we will have no one to blame but ourselves when we face sanctions," said Pereira. - Mkini