Malaysia’s treatment of migrant workers utterly shameful

 

Two video clips involving Bangladeshi foreign workers provided by activists to me recently made my flesh crawl. It made me wonder if some Malaysians have become so heartless in their quest for illegally gotten gains.

The country has hit a terrible low when it comes to the treatment of migrant workers, it has become a thing of utter shame.

One clip that must have broken many a heart showed a young worker weeping uncontrollably after being informed that his father in Bangladesh had died. The dire circumstances he was in added to the emotional torture he was facing.

He was among a group of about 100 workers who were left in the lurch after arriving in Malaysia with promised jobs. They had borrowed huge sums at home to pay for their journey here. Did the son’s dire predicament contribute to the heart attack that killed his father? No one knows, but that is a possibility.

Another video showed a group of workers sleeping on the floor with hardly any space for them to stretch. To make matters worse, the workers told activists they were forced to share a single toilet.

On top of that, some Malaysians recently showed their ugly and intolerant side by protesting against foreign workers living in residential areas. There were also those who were up in arms at the Penang state government’s move to build a hostel for foreign workers near their homes.

Do you expect them to be housed in a hostel built in the middle of a jungle? What have we Malaysians, once known for our great hospitality, descended into? Have we become that heartless in our quest for riches, even if obtained illegally?

Let’s get it right – Malaysia needs these workers for its economy to tick. Without them, many sectors will surely screech to a halt. It does not take a lot for Malaysians to show some respect towards these workers and treat them with dignity.

Over the last two decades we have seen the media publish story after story about the mistreatment of foreign workers in our country. Every time a new minister takes over, he promises a clean-up of the sector. Four different home and human resources ministers have come and gone in the last six years, but there appears to be no end in sight to the exploitation.

Migrant workers activist Andy Hall recently highlighted the plight of more than 100 workers being cooped up in a shophouse with just one toilet for all. They were not given the jobs promised to them by the agents from Bangladesh and Malaysia. They were in tears, with hardly anything to eat.

Luckily for them, a local NGO stepped in with food and other forms of aid to tide them for about a week or so. Like a broken record, the ministry issued a statement saying it is investigating the matter.

It has been more than two months since the incident but the government has done nothing to show that it has nabbed the culprits although records of applications and approvals issued to bring them in are easily available.

In another matter, the human resources ministry held a mediation between 733 workers and an employer in Pengerang for not paying their wages. In a statement issued on Feb 5, the ministry said an agreement had been reached for the employer to pay the workers RM1.03 million in back wages.

Strangely, the ministry did not divulge the name of the employer. This can be construed, rightly or wrongly, as the ministry protecting the company. Otherwise, why would it leave out the employer’s name – especially after describing it as a landmark case which will be used as a reference in future labour disputes?

By the way, it has been nearly six weeks since the settlement but the workers have not received any payment yet, according to Hall.

On Monday, four Bangladeshi nationals filed police reports claiming their employer has failed to provide them with jobs despite bringing them into the country more than seven months ago.

Have we become a nation of heartless slave drivers profiteering from this disgusting flesh trade? Do the lives of these poor workers not matter just because they are doing the 3D jobs – the dirty, dangerous and difficult ones – that Malaysians shun?

Does it not matter that on the international front Malaysia is being portrayed as a nation that blatantly abuses its foreign workers?

Reports and commentaries on the plight of cheated Bangladeshi workers are making headlines even outside the country.

In a scathing editorial on March 10 titled “Migrating to a life of unemployment”, the Daily Star in Bangladesh urged Malaysia to end the exploitation, and hold those responsible to account.

“We are horrified to learn that many of their lives have, indeed, changed dramatically—only for the worse. Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi men were enticed by the prospect of jobs and fair pay under relaxed recruitment policies in Malaysia, only to find themselves among the ranks of the unemployed upon arrival,” it said.

The daily said of the over 400,000 Bangladeshis who made the journey to Malaysia since the reopening of the labour market, a staggering number now find themselves facing unemployment, or are underpaid, and with mounting debts, perpetually tortured by the thought of how they are letting down their families at home.

While some have sought recourse through complaints to Malaysia’s labour department, the path to justice remains uncertain. Despite assurances from Bangladeshi authorities and promises of support from the high commission, tangible action has been elusive for those trapped in this cycle of exploitation.

One wonders what is so difficult in finding out who in the human resources ministry approved the quota for the workers requested by any particular company. Is it rocket science to trace the signature of the approving officer who was to have done due diligence before giving the approvals? Of course not. Are there big names being protected?

The name of the company is clearly printed on permits and there is no escape here. How many employers have so far been charged or convicted in court despite all documents linked to the approvals clearly showing their name? I have only heard of a handful of them.

Can you blame the people from suspecting that there must have been an element of corruption in the migrant worker recruitment approvals? Of course not! The talk out there is that the multi-million-ringgit business is so lucrative and, with politicians controlling the trade, many big names are involved.

Since being upgraded to Tier 2 of the United States’ list of trafficking in persons report last July, Malaysia has been sliding. It will not be a surprise if it is downgraded back to Tier 3 when the US announces the latest report.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.