Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
"For a comprehensive approach to contain HIV/AIDS, the health of not only
local populations but also migrant communities needs to be addressed,"
CARAM Asia, a Malaysian-based coalition of migrant and health groups from 15
countries, said in an open letter to Asian governments late Monday.
<p>There are now about 53 million migrant workers in Asia who are vulnerable to
HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, because of their relative lack of access to
HIV-prevention programs, health counseling and medical tests, CARAM Asia said.</p>
<p>In many cases, migrants found to be HIV-positive are deported without any help
or immediate treatment, it added. It did not give estimates of how many migrant
workers in Asia are HIV-positive.</p>
<p>Many migrant workers come from poor areas in countries such as Indonesia, the
Philippines, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. They often find employment in more
affluent Asian nations as housemaids and laborers in plantations, factories
and construction sites.</p>
<p>According to recent U.N. statistics, about 8.6 million people in Asia are infected
with HIV. About 500,000 people in the region die per year from AIDS and financial
losses are estimated at US$10 billion (€7.5 billion) annually.</p>
<p>However, investment in HIV control in Asia remains extremely low at 10 percent
of the required US$5 billion (€3.7 billion) per year, officials have said.
The number of people in Asia infected with HIV could more than double to 20
million in the next five years without a better government response and more
funding, they said.</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/22/asia/AS-GEN-Asia-AIDS.php</i>
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