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 Malaysian was arrested at his house in Taman Cheras Idaman, Kajang at 1.15am last Thursday.
<P>Immigration authorities obtained a remand order to detain him for six days to facilitate investigations.</P>
<P>Immigration Department enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said yesterday four Bangladeshi passports and four Vietnamese passports were seized from the house.</P>
<P>"In a ground floor room, we found sophisticated computers and printers. The machines can print letters, stickers and special passes similar to our department documents," he said.</P>
<P>Ishak said the immigration authorities are also trying to ascertain the whereabouts of two other male suspects a Malaysian and a Bangladeshi with a Sabahan wife.</P>
<P>He warned of strict action against agents who bring in migrant workers illegally.</P>
<P>"This is a serious matter as we have so many illegal migrant workers. Now, we don’t only want to nab illegal migrant workers but also the agents who bring them in. We will go for those behind the scenes," he said.</P>
<P>Asked about a case involving a syndicate run by a Bangladeshi from Singapore who was arrested at KL International Airport last month for suspected involvement in illegal migrant worker syndicates, Ishak said the man had been deported.</P>
<P>"We had to release him because of lack of evidence. But he has been blacklisted and will be prevented from entering Malaysia again," he said.</P>
<P>The man’s syndicate in Johor Baru was believed to have used false company information to import migrant workers from Bangladesh.</P>
<P><I><FONT SIZE="1">Source: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=16553</FONT></I></P>
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com