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 Foreign Ministry’s director general for ASEAN cooperation, Dian Triansyah Djani, said here Thursday the declaration, which spells out the rights and duties of the receiving as well as origin countries of the workers, would be signed during the ASEAN summit in Cebu.
<P>He said the declaration would be followed up by other legally binding agreements among the 10 ASEAN member countries.</P>
<P>"Basically, most of the provisions in
the declaration have been agreed on by all the members, including Malaysia and
Singapore as receiving countries. We are still negotiating one or two issues but
I’m optimistic that we can arrive at agreement soon, and the leaders can sign
it as scheduled," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the negotiations
Thursday.</P><P>While the issue of migrant workers is crucial for both Indonesia
and the Philippines, which send millions of workers overseas, addressing it at
the ASEAN level was previously taboo because the issue is highly sensitive for
receiving countries like Malaysia and Singapore.</P><P>"This is a breakthrough
for ASEAN as the declaration will allow the region to provide minimum protection
for migrant workers and their basic rights," Dian said.</P><P>According to
the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, around 1.7 million Indonesians work
in Malaysia and tens of thousands in Singapore.</P><P>Besides acknowledging the
rights of migrant workers, the declaration also recognizes the prevalent abuse
of migrant workers in the region.</P><P>"The declaration also encourages
efforts to stop human trafficking among ASEAN countries. It is common knowledge
that many Indonesians have been illegally smuggled to neighboring countries,"
Dian said.</P><P>In addition to human trafficking, there is also the question
of illegal workers. Many Indonesians are working illegally in more affluent Malaysia,
despite campaigns to counter this trend.</P><P>The Manpower and Transmigration
Ministry estimates 1.2 million of the 1.7 million Indonesians working in Malaysia
are there illegally.</P><P>As one small example of the overall problem, Malaysian
authorities have arrested more than 4,500 Indonesian women in the past three years
for working as prostitutes in the country.</P><P>Currently, deliberation of the
declaration is stalled on the issue of family members of migrant workers.</P><P>"Malaysia
and Singapore want family matters left out of the declaration because they want
migrant workers to come as personal workers, without families. If they want to
marry they have to go back to their countries, and then come back alone after
getting married. Indonesia and the Philippines want it the other way around. We
are still looking to find a compromise on this matter," an official said.</P><P><I>Source:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/Archives/ArchivesDet2.asp?FileID=20070112.K02</I>
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