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?
On this day in 1990,
the UN General Assembly had adopted the International Convention on the Protection
of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which Malaysia
has yet to sign, let alone implement.
<P>This, despite the fact that migrant
communities have been part of the fabric of Malaysia for centuries, from the heyday
of the Malacca sultanate as a trading emporium, through to the colonial era, until
today, where they undertake the so-called 3D (dirty, difficult and dangerous)
jobs that locals are reluctant to do.</P><P>As a major recipient nation of migrant
labour, Malaysia has a clear responsibility towards ensuring a minimum standard
of welfare and safety for these workers, on whose toil the nation prospers, but
who in return, are prone to appalling abuse and exploitation.</P><P>In particular
today, the trend in migration is towards an increasing feminisation, with some
48% of migrants worldwide being women. Groups working on migrant issues note that
many put themselves at grave risk, ending up in the statistics of human trafficking,
cases of exploitation, human rights abuses or contracting HIV/AIDS or other diseases.</P><P>Human
rights groups have been disappointed that even inter-governmental arrangements,
such as the memorandum of understanding between Malaysia and Indonesia that was
signed earlier this year ignores the basic rights of migrant workers – such as
the right to have custody of their travel documents, and the right of association
– while benefiting the recruitment agencies that thrive on the business of labour
supply.</P><P>The independent international advocacy group Human Rights Watch
notes that migrants working as domestic helpers in Malaysia do not enjoy the protection
of Section XII of the Employment Act 1955, which stipulates such basic terms as
one rest day per week, eight hours of work per day and a maximum of 48 hours of
work per week.</P><P>But this merely confirms what is common knowledge. We need
to acknowledge – to ourselves, chiefly – that on the whole, as a society, we do
not practise the compassion that is the hallmark of a progressive nation. This
will remain true unfortunately as long as there are people in our midst who cannot
rely on us to defend their right to the basic welfare that we take to be our birthright.
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