Just a day after the last batch of 55 foreign workers lodged a labour case and a police report against their employer for unpaid wages, three came under investigation for criminal intimidation and were remanded for four days starting yesterday.
This allayed earlier concerns about their whereabouts, which prompted their case worker, PSM workers’ bureau coordinator Sivaranjani Manickam to lodge a missing persons report.
However, the irony of the situation was not lost on her.
“I had to file a missing persons report to discover that the workers were actually in the same police station where I filed the report,” Sivaranjani said, feeling exasperated.
As police investigate the allegations made against the workers by their employers, it is notable that foreign workers in Malaysia have faced challenges in lodging complaints against their employers for job scams and trafficking allegations.
PSM has since called for the police to release the three arrested workers on police bail immediately and to ensure that all original passports are returned to the workers.
In a statement, it also urged the Human Resources Ministry to hasten the investigation against the employer and to ensure that the workers receive their unpaid wages as well as new employment.
"The Human Resources Ministry should also ensure that the workers are being protected and their rights and welfare are not further eroded in this prolonged saga of suffering and ill-treatment,” it added.
Last December, 171 migrant workers from Bangladesh marched some 10km to the Bayu Damai police station in Pengerang, Johor, to lodge a report against their agent who failed to secure employment after three months in the country.
The Immigration Department detained the group before they could lodge the report. They have since been released from custody.
Sivaranjani’s search for the workers started at the Sentul district police headquarters (IPD) where the workers lodged two police reports.
The Sentul IPD connected the workers’ names to Dang Wangi district police headquarters, where she found the workers.
“In Dang Wangi, they made calls and asked around before informing me they did not know where the workers were but when I lodged a missing persons report, I was directed to a different floor where I found them,” she said.
The three Bangladeshis recruited to work in the construction sector are being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation and Section 323 of the same law for voluntarily causing hurt.
“The workers allege that one of their co-workers who is loyal to the employer had started an argument with the trio late at night, which then escalated into a physical altercation.
“At 3.37am, I received a message from one of the workers claiming that the employer had handed over the three workers named in the message to the police,” said Sivaranjani.
The altercation occurred at the Centralised Labour Quarters on Jalan Rahmat in Kuala Lumpur where the workers were residing.
Collin Arvin Andrew, who represented the workers at the remand hearing, said the workers were also being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not having valid documents.
He contended that the allegation was peculiar, given that the employer, responsible for the workers’ documentation, escorted them to the police station.
Cases filed against employer a day before
On March 12 and 20, 55 Bangladeshi workers lodged police reports against Beaks Construction Sdn Bhd and Suria Harmoni Resources Sdn Bhd alleging criminal violation of their passports being withheld, they were not deployed for work, and they were unpaid for seven months.
Their labour cases lodged at the Kuala Lumpur Labour Department on March 18 and 20 alleged the same violations.
A visit to the Beaks Construction office revealed that employees from both companies shared the same premise. However, the directors were not in the office and Malaysiakini is trying to reach them for a response.
According to the Beaks Construction website, the company has four ongoing construction projects developing high-rise residences and houses.
The company had completed a sports complex for the Selayang Municipal Council.
Other completed projects include a floating restaurant in Malacca and a secondary school in Bandar Sri Damansara.
Visas expiring in May
One worker who arrived on June 30 last year has two more months before his Temporary Employment Visit Pass expires on May 31.
He has not worked a day since he arrived in Malaysia and according to documents sighted by Malaysiakini, he signed a three-year contract with Suria Harmoni Resources.
If successful, and based on just their basic salary, the workers’ claim for unpaid wages amounts to RM577,500.
However, Sivaranjani acknowledged that even the labour department was giving them the runaround and didn't anticipate a resolution to their case before the workers’ work visas expired.
“For example, the workers’ contract shows that Suria Harmoni Resources was incorporated in Malacca and the labour officers are trying to refer our case to that state.
“However, the company’s registration and business address on the SSM report is in KL,” she said.
In January, Human Resources Minister Steven Sim had pledged to hold directors and managers accountable for labour violations by invoking Section 101(b) of the Employment Act, thereby dismantling the protective barrier afforded by corporate entities.
Following the incident involving the 171 foreign workers, Sim said the ministry has also adopted several new approaches to prevent a repeat of such violations.
Companies that are found violating the law would have their incoming migrant workers quota frozen and be put on a blacklist. - Mkini
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