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?
The governor of Chiang Mai, for instance, proposes to put a curfew on foreign
workers after 8pm, not allowing them to ride motorbikes, or leave their workplaces
and forbidding the assembly of more than 5 of them, simultaneously. Likewise,
Malaysia, which intends to ban such workers from leaving their work compounds
from 8 pm to 6 am and enforcing the rule by making their employers responsible
for the workers’ behavior. Both authorities cite the possibility of crime
being committed by the workers as their justification for such draconian measures.
<p><img src="images/articles/2007/p1.jpg" width="142" height="96" align="right">Malaysia
acknowledges that foreign workers are currently responsible for 2% of crimes
committed, which effectively means that because of this crime pinprick, all
foreign workers are to be penalized. In Thailand’s 4 southern provinces:
Phuket, Surat Thani, Ranong and Rayong, since December 2006, severe restrictions
have been imposed on migrant workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia. Their restrictions
include a ban on the use of mobile phones, motorcycles and cars, restricting
assembly to less than 5 individuals, as in the case of Chiang Mai, and a curfew
for migrant workers from 8 pm to 6 am, confining them to “barracks”,
so to speak. These measures lay these provincial governments open to a charge
of gross racial discrimination, as well as violation of their basic human rights.
</p>
<p>Yet both the Thai and Malaysian governments were signatories to various conventions
intended to uphold human rights, primarily the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, and the Core International Labour Standard (ILS). Provisions of the
latter include the freedom of association and the right to organize. By failing
to keep to the spirit of these conventions, both governments are guilty of hypocrisy.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, their polices encourage exploitation, amounting to slave labour,
and a failure to safeguard the welfare and well-being of foreign workers. Additionally,
they are not taking into account the fact that these migrant workers more often
than not do work that the respective countries’ nationals prefer not to
do and the two countries also fail to recognize the migrant workers’ contribution
to the economic development and income for both the countries which provide
migrants and the recipients.</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000003522</i>
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