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?
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said the on-line system
that has been in place over the past six months would be fully implemented once
the source countries have been briefed.
<p>"We have already introduced the system in Vietnam and will be expanded
to Indonesia, India, Nepal and other countries," he told reporters after
meeting Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Labour Huynh Thi Nhan at his ministry
here Thursday.</p>
<p>Dr Fong said the previous system of issuing such certificates manually was
prone to fraud as it was just like issuing a health certificate and there was
no proper monitoring system in place.</p>
<p>Introduction of the on-line system will enable the authorities like the embassy,
immigration and centres conducting induction courses to keep tab of the workers’
eligibility, thus smoothening entry and exit.</p>
<p>It will also expedite the whole process which now takes two to three weeks
for issuance of such certificates after the workers had attended the courses,
he said.</p>
<p>He said his ministry had received complaints, particularly from Nepal, with
regard to falsification of the certificates.</p>
<p>Dr Fong, who visited induction course centres in India and Nepal from Oct 4
to 10, said the courses were compulsory and an important aspect in the employment
of foreign workers.</p>
<p>During the induction course, aspiring workers would be briefed of the Employment
Act, terms and conditions of employment and other relevant information, he said.</p>
<p>On his meeting with Nhan, Dr Fong said the meeting was to update the Vietnamese
government of the current affairs of their nationals in Malaysia.</p>
<p>The meeting helped dispel the negative perception of the Vietnamese government
on rumours that its citizens were involved in violence and crime.</p>
<p>"We will continue to provide feedback to Vietnam on matters involving
their 100,000-odd workers here," he said.</p>
<p>Besides Vietnam, the main labour source countries are Indonesia (one million),
Nepal (250,000) and India (130,000). Their nationals are employed in various
economic sectors like construction and manufacturing. –BERNAMA
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