Malaysia must end 'exploitation' and ensure effective access to justice of migrant workers - we do not deserve migrant workers?

It is way too easy for employers in Malaysia to terminate migrant workers - and there after cancelling their work pass/permit/visa - thus extinguishing the right of the migrant worker to remain in Malaysia.They become undocumented workers if they stay on.

When migrant workers are 'cheated' and/or exploited by their employer - they really have no effective way to exercise their right to utilize channels of access to justice, and get justice. Why? The have become 'undocumented migrants' - and face the risk of arrest, detention (or imprisonment), whipping, and deportation. Being undocumented, they cannot even turn up at the Labour Department and other avenues to pursue the claims against employers. Malaysia and its current BN government seem to be not bothered that migrant workers are exploited by employer, not bothered whether migrant workers can utilize fully avenues of justice - and eventually get justice. Hence, employers who violate worker rights and human rights get off scot free...possibly to do the same to the next batch of migrant workers.

Malaysian government to date cancels work passes/permits/visas of migrant workers without properly according migrant workers, being the owners of such passes/permits/visas even the right to be heard - The documents are cancelled usually just on the information received by employers...No migrant worker with a pending claim against the employer should be deported until matter is settled and justice done.

Do migrant workers have the option to refuse overtime? And in Malaysia, there is a draconian law that sets the maximum of overtime a worker must work - and that comes to about 4 hours a day > so 8 hours normal work plus 4 or more hours.. Now, even local workers really do not anymore have the option to say 'No' to overtime - and since employers are more and more resorting to precarious forms of employment like short-term employment contracts - workers have no choice but to work as and when their employer ask them to do - akin to slavery?

Then, the Malaysian government started making migrant workers pay the LEVY (now this was payable by employers who employ migrant workers - it was meant to be a deterrent to employers hoping that they will employ local workers instead)... This deterrant Levy was made ineffective because the government was giving some employer that apply permission to recover this amount paid for LEVY by means of wage deductions (or recovery of advancements) - and finally in April 2009, this practice of allowing employers to recover Levy from their workers was put to a STOP.. but later with the advent of MINIMUM WAGE - government back-tracked and imposed the obligation to pay levy on workers.

The Malaysian government also 'forced' the migrant worker to buy their own medical and surgical insurance. Any reasonable person would be wondering why - when we already have SOCSO and/or Workman's Compensation that should take care of all payments for healthcare of workers. 

All. in all this encouraged migrant workers to become 'undocumented migrants'...or stay 'undocumented migrants', and this allows them to earn more...do undocumented migrant workers want to become documented workers? Remember the 6P - there was a call for undocumented migrants to come forward and register with the belief that they will be made documented workers...many came forward - and many found themselves 'cheated' - they never were made documented migrants

Migrant workers now has also become a source of income for many - banks and financial institutions(remittance, some say has become the 2nd most income earner), etc..

For bad employers, migrant workers would thus be considered most attractive - here was a class of workers so easily exploitable... who really have no access to the avenues of justice - when they try to claim rights or report abuse, so easily will employers terminate... and Malaysian government, irrespective of whether they have any claim against their employer, is not bothered to do anything but to just get them out of the country. 

Migrant workers may be considered 'bonded labour' - because many employers or their agents hold on to their passports and visa/pass, etc - and when enforcement officers approach them, they will most likely be arrested and detained - not freed until their employers comes forth with their passports to claim them... This problem has been ongoing, yet Malaysia refuses to do enough to stop this practice. This also causes problems --- freedom of movement, and even those who eventually run away from exploitative employers find themselves with no proper travel papers - hence many have to use the services of 'smugglers' to get out of Malaysia and return to their country....  

Migrant workers may be considered 'bonded labour' - because their permits/pass/visa allows them to only work for one employer - once terminated, they have no choice but to get out of Malaysia. Considering that many a migrant worker has expended so much money to come to work in Malaysia, going back home is sometimes really not an option - how will the settle their debts? How will they face their family? So, for many the choice becomes to work as an undocumented worker irrespective of the risk of arrest, detention, whipping, etc.. at least until they have earned enough to settle their debts back home...and to be able to take some money back home...for their family and dependents..

Malaysia makes migrant workers so readily available for employers - yes, now another 1.5 million from Bangladesh...

The way forward would be to ensure that there will be an end to exploitation and that migrant workers will have an effective means to get justice. Employers that exploit and those that violate worker rights should no longer be able to escape the consequences of their evil deeds...

Malaysian Bar calls on Malaysia to make the undocumented migrants already in Malaysia into documented migrants - but that will not solve the more inherent problem being the way Malaysian government treats migrant workers....

Jul 8, 2015 By M Krishnamoorthy

Bar Council: We don’t need more foreign workers

Enough is enough, with more than four million illegal workers in the country. There is no need, therefore, to get another 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh.

The Bar Council has called on the government to halt the intake of 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers because it has not regularised more than four million foreign workers who are currently illegally working in Malaysia.

“The way forward is for the Malaysian government to have a programme to regularise the illegal (not documented) migrant workers, rather than to bring in new migrant workers,” Bar Council of Malaysia’s Migrants, Refugees and Immigration Affairs Committee chairperson  M Ramachelvam said.

“Bringing in new migrant workers will only benefit labour agents and suppliers. At the same time hefty commissions will be collected by manpower syndicates in Malaysia and in Bangladesh.

“Therefore, the government should not proceed with the bringing in more migrant workers and should immediately carry out a regularisation programme for the estimated four million migrant workers who are in an irregular or are of illegal status,” Ramachelvam (photo) said.

He said this in his keynote speech at the opening of the Regional Civil Society Consultation on Mixed Migration Flow in and to South East Asia, which was held at the Mines Resort last night.

Malaysia’s apex labour movement, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has also opposed the bringing in of the 1.5 million new migrant workers.

There has been no needs-based study whether new migrant workers are required in the country, Ramachelvam pointed out.

On June 25, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that all illegal foreign workers would be returned to their countries of origin before 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh are brought into Malaysia.

"Before we bring in 1.5 million legal workers from Bangladesh, we will first take the illegal ones out, which now number about two million."

4.6 million illegal workers in Malaysia

In November last year, a local media reported some 4.6 million illegal foreign workers were in the country. Zahid’s response then was he would meet Human Resources Minister Richard Riot Jaem to find out how he obtained the statistics.

Richard revealed that of the 6.7 million foreign workers in the country, 4.6 million had entered the country illegally.

Zahid (photo) had announced last year that a new body, or a commission, would be set up to tackle the issue of foreign labour, both legal and illegal. He said it was being set up on the instruction of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Currently, Ramachelvam said, there are about 250,000 documented Bangladeshis and another 250,000 illegal Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia and for this reason the government must take advantage of those who are here already, as they know the local language and culture.

On the ‘boat people’ crisis, he said it was a humanitarian catastrophe that saw human suffering and loss of life through drowning and fights for survival on board boats left to drift on the high seas.

“The response of Asean nations, particularly Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, has not been in accordance with international humanitarian law and principles.

“The ‘push back’” policy adopted by these Asean nations is inhumane and not in accordance with customary international law,” Ramachelvam added.

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M KRISHNAMOORTHY is a contributor to Malaysiakini.- Malaysiakini, 8/7/2015