Charles echoes call to declassify foreign workers' management report

 

Former Klang MP Charles Santiago has echoed PSM’s calls for the government to declassify an independent special committee’s report on the management of foreign workers.

Charles (above) said migrant management could have been improved by leaps and bounds if the Special Committee on Foreign Worker Management’s report submitted in 2019, was made public.

Former Court of Appeal judge Hishamuddin Yunus chaired the special committee formed during Pakatan Harapan’s government in 2018.

“Alas, we rather pay the price of inaction. Migrant management is being held hostage by unscrupulous middlemen (labour brokers) in both (source and receiving) countries.

“Put differently, governments, employers and the economy are held ransom by these middlemen.

“It has to stop for the country to go forward,” Charles said in a statement today.

Previously, PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan said there is no reason for the report to not be made public, especially after Putrajaya declassified the 1976 investigation report of the Double Six Crash recently.

In 2020, Hishamuddin said the report had been classified under the Official Secrets Act and “the committee members were disappointed as no reasons were given”.

Terminate Bestinet portal

Charles also reiterated calls for the termination of the Bestinet portal which he claimed is being controlled by labour brokers.

“Recruitment process must be open and transparent in both countries. Charges for health, air travel and others must be made public to migrants,” he said.

Bestinet is a portal which administers the government’s migrant management system.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

Charles also repeated the need for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to implement a zero recruitment policy and pushed for the Prime Minister’s Office to handle the intake of foreign workers, instead of the Home Ministry and Human Resources Ministry.

“The department should be chaired by Anwar and headed by either a former judge, chief executive officer or retired senior government servant,” he proposed.

“It's a multi-billion ringgit business. It’s controlled by labour brokers from sending and receiving nations.

“Government servants and politicians work with these labour brokers and politicians often front labour recruitment agencies,” he alleged.

In February, Anwar said using agents to recruit foreign workers should be stopped because of the higher costs involved.

Previously, the Labour Law Reform Coalition said that migrant workers fall into “debt bondage”, needing to mortgage their properties in the country of origin or take high interest loans to pay hefty recruitment fees before working in Malaysia. - Mkini