Ministry should audit employers of migrant workers, activist says

 

Labour activist Callistus Antony D’Angelus has called on the Human Resources Ministry to audit all Malaysian employers who are employing migrant workers.

In a statement today, he said this would be a concrete step to end decades of migrant worker exploitation.

He suggested that another key move would be to allow trade union representation for these migrant workers.

“For some decades now, migrant workers in Malaysia have been openly and unashamedly exploited. They have been treated as cattle and subject to slave-like working conditions.

“These workers are from poor countries such as Bangladesh and have little recourse due to their economic conditions.

“At the heart of the problem is systemic corruption which allows for such exploitation to have been institutionalised.

“Involved are middlemen, who are modern-day slave traders, government officials, and businesses. All these parties benefit monetarily and have been brazen and open about it,” said D’Angelus (above) speaking as international labour advisor to the Social Protection Contributor Advisory Association Malaysia.

He said the joint efforts of Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Human Resources Minister Steven Sim to propose freezing migrant worker quota applications to the cabinet is a necessary interim measure, but not one which will solve persistent problems.

“What would happen when businesses start to lobby? As has been the case in the past, would the government then cave in and allow for the corrupt and exploitative status quo to resume?

“The Human Resources Ministry should perform an audit of every employer who employs migrant workers to ascertain whether such employers have complied with the law and are treating migrant workers humanely.

“Where businesses have violated the law, they should be charged and made to pay the price,” he said.

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D’Angelus reminded the government that the exploitation of migrant workers has a direct impact on local Malaysian workers, where the workforce as a whole gets exploited.

“Wages are depressed, working conditions do not improve, and it becomes a perennial race to the bottom.

“An overhaul of the industrial relations framework in the country is necessary, and most importantly is to allow for the ease of representation of migrant and local workers by trade unions.

“The problem is evident and is not something which requires further debate or enquiry.

“The question is does the government, which has promised reform and good governance, have the political will, wherewithal and moral courage to act to end the exploitation of workers in the country,” he added. - Mkini