Activist warns of syndicate threat to migrant labour reforms

 

Recruitment of foreign workers was halted in May last year, but the suspension is expected to be lifted soon. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A migrant worker recruitment syndicate has become active again and may block efforts to reform the hiring of Bangladeshi and Nepali workers when Malaysia reopens the intake of foreign workers, according to a migrant rights activist.

Andy Hall said the syndicate is believed to have some control over the recruitment and management of foreign workers in Malaysia and caused serious problems for Bangladeshi workers between 2022 and 2024.

“Many workers had to pay exorbitant amounts just to come to Malaysia. Some were recruited by fake employers and ended up unemployed, destitute, and trapped in debt bondage,” he told FMT.

In early 2024, several United Nations agencies raised concerns about abuses in the process of recruiting Bangladeshi workers, following formal complaints from Hall.

Malaysia halted all foreign worker recruitment in May last year, although some hiring continued in the plantation and security sectors. The suspension has lasted for 10 months and is expected to be lifted soon.

Hall said a 2021 agreement with Bangladesh needs to be reviewed, while an expired agreement with Nepal also needs to be updated, before the labour market is reopened.

He said problematic clauses must be removed “so as to rid the system of syndicates once and for all”.

Hall said many workers’ lives had been ruined by debt bondage and other abuses through “irresponsible, irregular and unethical recruitment, and impunity for such behaviour”.

He said home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had stated in January last year that labour agreements with 15 countries would be reviewed, but no new deals have been revealed so far.

He also raised concerns about the continued use of a management system which came under parliamentary criticism for being open to access by unauthorised users.

Several groups and MPs have demanded it to be replaced after claims that the system was used by syndicates to control the recruitment process and raise costs.

In November 2024, Bloomberg reported that Bangladesh had written to Interpol asking for help to extradite people in Malaysia linked to the system who had “fraudulently extorted money from the victims” and subjected them to “physical and mental torture.” - FMT