A month after their employer was charged for wrongfully holding on to their passports, eight former workers of a Klang-based cleaning service company will return to their hometowns in Indonesia today.
The deportation process followed a consent order signed by their employer for payment of unpaid wages amounting to over RM80,000, according to sources from Selangor Labour Department.
"A hearing was held at the Semenyih Detention Depot on Feb 5 [...] and a settlement was reached with the total amount of RM85,100.19.
"Full payment has been made through the Indonesian Embassy," said the source.
It is understood that the settlement was negotiated from an original claim amounting to RM122,500, filed on Jan 13 at the Klang Labour Department office.
When contacted, the Indonesian Embassy's labour attache, Budhi Hidayat, confirmed that their claims for unpaid wages have been resolved through mediation facilitated by the Labour Department.
"They will be accompanied on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta by an embassy officer in charge of migrant workers protection.
"In Jakarta, they will be received by another protection officer, before being sent back to their respective hometowns," Budhi said, adding that it was the standard operating procedure for repatriation of workers.
Last month, Malaysiakini reported that the company's chief executive officer, 41-year-old Teoh Geok Heong, claimed trial to eight charges under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passports Act 1966.
The prosecution had ordered for all eight workers to be handed over to the Immigration Department and it is understood that they were taken to the Semenyih detention depot while awaiting repatriation.
Commenting further, Budhi indicated that the embassy would work together with the Labour Department to identify further actions to be taken, including to safeguard interests of a remaining group of workers at the cleaning service company.
"In particular we want to make sure that payment of their wages will be in order, as well as overtime claims and other benefits," he said.
Among others, he noted that there was one identified case of a worker being brought in as a domestic helper but eventually made to work as a general cleaner.
Klang Utara district police chief Nurulhuda Mohd Salleh previously told Malaysiakini that investigations carried out following a multi-agency raid on the company's premise last Dec 17 did not reveal any elements that pointed to all 51 workers rescued as being victims of human trafficking.
At the time, she said 43 of the rescued workers were returned to the cleaning company as they possessed valid documents and had expressed intentions to continue working there.
Moving forward, Budhi said the Indonesian Embassy will continue to work with its stakeholders, including the republic's Manpower Ministry, to scrutinise the role of its recruitment agencies and improve the protection of their workers abroad.
The group of workers had first raised their alleged exploitation to Migrant Care, seeking refuge at the international migrant right's NGO shelter in Kuala Lumpur.
Contacted today, Migrant Care country representative Alex Ong continued to question the Malaysian authorities commitment to act against errant employers.
He added that the organisation through its counterparts in Indonesia will similarly look at possibilities of recruitment agencies in Indonesia to stop sending their citizens to employers with a history of breaching labour laws. - Mkini
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