25th March 2024: Bangladeshi workers (alleged victims of criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia) claim being coerced into withdrawing police and labour complaints
Andy Hall’s comments – This is the kind of standard aggressive response to be expected in Malaysia when abused and vulnerable foreign workers dare to stand up and make complaints against their systemic exploitation. The grievance and law enforcement systems in Malaysia meant to address forced labour are simply broken, compromised and complicit, unable to respond to serious issues of modern slavery, forced labour and exploitation a timely and effective manner. Impunity rules. There is little to no rule or law in Malaysia’s management and recruitment of foreign workers, particularly for those that have fallen victim to an alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia. Thankfully in this case, NSI and PSM teams are supporting the three workers on the ground to escalate their grievances as a means to challenge this alleged impunity.
Three Bangladeshi workers remanded by the police over an altercation last week claimed that their employers tried to coerce them into withdrawing complaints over unpaid wages.
This is according to PSM activist Bryan Rozells Gerard Rozells, who interviewed the workers following their release from remand yesterday.
He said the workers got into an argument with a co-worker, said to be loyal to their employers when the latter came to their hostel at about 1am on Thursday and started shouting at those who reported their employers to the authorities.
The altercation occurred at the Centralised Labour Quarters on Jalan Rahmat in Kuala Lumpur where the workers were residing.
This happened just a day after 55 Bangladeshi workers lodged reports with the Labour Department against two construction companies.
Bryan said the argument then turned physical before others broke it up. The hostel security then alerted their employers and police, who later turned up at the scene.
“The police officers left the scene after one of the workers explained what had happened and showed them the police reports they had lodged against the companies earlier.
“However, a representative of their employers, someone they called Encik Fikri, stayed on and started to threaten the three into withdrawing their police reports and the complaints they had lodged with the Labour Department.
“When the three refused to budge, Encik Fikri and the hostel security guard took them to the Dang Wangi police station where he again told them to withdraw their reports.
“When they still refused to do so, he then (allegedly) had his Bangladeshi staff involved in the altercation to lodge a police report alleging the three of assaulting him,” Bryan told Malaysiakini.
Activists lodged labour complaints police report
The activist also lodged a police report last night detailing what the three workers had told him regarding the labour complaints.
In his report made on behalf of PSM, Bryan said the party believed that a false accusation was made against the three that led to their arrests.
They were released from detention at about 2.30pm yesterday.
However, their plight did not end with the release.
Bryan said the three workers found out that their handphones left at the Dang Wangi police station’s guard house were taken away by their employers.
On top of this, they were also locked out of the workers’ hostel and not allowed to enter even to collect their belongings inside.
“So now, the workers’ handphones, personal effects and passports are all being held by their employers.
“PSM lodged the police report for their safety and hoping that police can help them to get back their personal items, including passports.
“We also want to know what action has been taken against the employers for holding the workers’ passports, which is a criminal offence,” Bryan said.
It was reported that three workers came under investigation for criminal intimidation and were remanded for four days after lodging labour complaints over unpaid salaries.
Collin Arvin Andrew, who represented the workers at the remand hearing, told Malaysiakini two days ago that the workers were also being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not having valid documents.
He contended that the allegation was peculiar, given that the employer, responsible for the workers’ documentation, escorted them to the police station.
On March 12 and 20, 55 Bangladeshi workers lodged police reports regarding labour complaints against Beaks Construction Sdn Bhd and Suria Harmoni Resources Sdn Bhd alleging criminal violation of their passports being withheld, not being deployed for work, and being unpaid for seven months.
Their labour cases lodged at the Kuala Lumpur Labour Department on March 18 and 20 alleged the same violations.
When contacted, Dang Wangi district police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya confirmed that police had received the report and labour complaints.
He said the police opened an investigation under Section 323 of the Penal Code, which stipulates offences on voluntarily causing hurt.
“The police report is also forwarded to the Labour Department and Immigration Department. Let’s wait for the investigation to be completed and further instruction from the deputy public prosecutor,” he said.
Additional Reading:
Daily Star 25th Mar: Malaysia employer framed Bangladeshi workers
Daily Star 24th Mar 2024: Jailed in Malaysia – 3 Bangladesh workers released
Editorial Prothomalo 24th Mar 2024: Malaysian labour market – Take action against the fraud syndicate
FMT 23rd March 2024: PSM calls on Sim to look into arrest of Bangladeshi workers
MALAYSIAKINI 23 Mar 2024: Stranded foreign workers (alleged victims of criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia) nabbed after labour complaints against employer
23rd March 2024 The Star: Half a million vulnerable and irregular foreign workers disappear from Malaysia’s migrant worker regularization programme as deadline looms in one week
22nd March 2024 Protomalo: Malaysian labour market set to be closed again due to syndication
20th March 2024: 93 duped/detained Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia have jobs now, says immigration DG
20th Mar 2024 Business Standard: Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia: Coalition of migration orgs demand action against recruiting agency syndicate
FMT 19th Mar 2024: Plantation firms wary of ‘forced labour’ concerns in hiring 200,000 surplus foreign workers/criminal syndicate victims in Malaysia, says minister – indeed he’s right, who wants to take on destitute foreign workers often with US$4-7000 in debt?
17th March 2024: FMT – Malaysia’s treatment of migrant workers utterly shameful
New Age 16th Mar 2024: Bangladeshi government must mend issues to keep Malaysia job market open
15th March 2024 SCMP: Malaysians deride minister’s idea to rebrand palm oil workers as ‘specialised harvesters’
14th March 2024: The Star – Opinion: When work in Malaysia is a con – the criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshis for forced labour in Malaysia
FMT 13th March 2024: Bangladeshi migrants file police reports after falling victim to job scam/criminal syndicate trafficking workers from Bangladesh for forced labour in Malaysia
SCMP 12th Mar 2024: Malaysia to slash migrant workforce amid intolerance, job scam crisis involving Bangladeshi labourers
Daily Star Editorial 10th March 2024: Migrating to a life of unemployment
Daily Star 10th Mar 2024: Distressed in Malaysia – Thousands of Bangladeshi migrants jobless, unpaid or underpaid
Malay Mail 9th Mar 2024: Activists warn rushed 31st Mar visa deadline in Malaysia could force firms to source foreign workers unethically (includes my commentary on the abrupt policy change)
9th Mar 2024 The Star: No extension of May 31 foreign worker deadline
NST 9th Mar 2024: Keep recruitment agencies in a list rather than shutting them down, govt told
See also NST 9th Mar 2024: Sourcing migrant workers takes time, ‘not like buying cattle’, employer groups tell govt
NST 8th Mar 2024: Eliminate middlemen from migrant worker recruitment process, govt told
Star 8th Mar 2024: May 31 deadline for foreign workers recruitment under recalibration programme remains, says Saifuddin
Malay Mail 8th Mar 2024: Saifuddin Nasution: No more agents for Bangladeshi worker recruitment
6th March 2024: Business Times –Sudden change in foreign worker policy by Malaysian government leaves industry in limbo
6th Mar 2024 Edge: Foreign worker intake deadline changes will leave manufacturers in the lurch, says FMM
6th Mar 2024 FMT: Industry players shocked by foreign worker policy change, says FMM
5th March 2024: NCCIM urges govt to review unused foreign worker quota deadline
3rd March 2024: Ensure ‘crooks’ do not gain from repatriation programme, says activist
2nd March 2024 The Star: A chance for illegals to go home
2nd March 2024 The Star: Sarawak immigration extends RTK2.0 until June
EDGE 1st Mar 2024: Home Ministry moves to free up foreign workers quota, unused allocations to be cancelled from June 1
1st March 2024 FMT: 600,000 foreign workers urged to take easy exit home
1st March 2024 The Star: Use repatriation programme to return home, 600,000 illegals told
1st March 2024 MalayMail: Saifuddin reminds employers to get their foreign worker affairs in order before March 31
RTV Online 1st Mar 2024: Expatriates die without getting work in Malaysia (google translate)
28th February 2024 The Star: New programme lets migrants off the hook without being prosecuted
27th February 2024: SCMP – Malaysian firm probed for human trafficking after 93 Bangladeshi workers found abandoned
26th February 2024: Statement by Independent Migrant Worker Rights Specialist Andy Hall on Joint KDN, KSM and MAPO Operation to Rescue More Destitute and Stranded Victims of the Alleged Criminal Syndicate Trafficking Workers from Bangladesh for Forced Labour in Malaysia (includes updated stories on the ‘Cheras’ case)
25th February 2024 The Star: Businesses want foreign worker hiring freeze lifted
Business Standard 18th Feb 2024: Bangladeshis pay much higher than peers (US$4500++) to reach Malaysia job market – syndicates, impunity and systemic forced labour
Malay Mail 8th Feb 2024 – Activists: Duped Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia sought RM2m in unpaid wages, but only got half(first reported compensation settlement for Bangladesh Malaysia organised crime syndicate victims being trafficked for forced labour in Malaysia)
See also: Malay Mail 8th Feb 2024: HR Ministry hails mediation outcome despite claims duped Bangladeshi workers were short-changed
See also: 8th February 2024: FMT – Bangladeshi workers win RM1mil in unpaid wages
See also: 7th Feb 2024: Bangla Tribune – Job trap in Malaysia, 733 Bangladeshis in salary uncertainty
See also: 6th February2024: Benar News – Malaysian Labor Court orders employers to pay Bangladeshi workers RM1 million in unpaid wages – first reported compensation settlement for Bangladesh Malaysia organised crime syndicate victims being trafficked for forced labour in Malaysia
31st January 2024 NST: Govt to implement Migrant Repatriation Programme starting March
31st January 2024 The Edge: Cabinet agrees to extend freeze on hiring of foreign workers, says home minister
31st January 2024 FMT: Migrant repatriation programme set for March 1
31st January 2024 The Star: Migration Repatriation Programme to commence on March 1, says Home Ministry
See also: 16th January 2024: FMT – 751 duped Bangladeshi migrant workers in Pengerang case file RM2 million claim for unpaid wages resulting from situation akin to forced labour, stranded and destitute on arrival in Malaysia (includes comments by Andy Hall)
See also: 6th Jan 2024: FMT: Away from families, in debt, and jobless in a foreign land
See also: 6th Jan 2024: New Strait Times – Company that promised 171 Bangladeshi workers non-existent jobs blacklisted
See also: 5th Jan 2024: New Strait Times – MCA: Don’t just fine employers, hold ministry accountable as well for unemployed foreign workers
See also: FMT 30th Dec 2023: Migrants being duped into Malaysia because of govt’s failure to curb criminal trafficking syndicates and organised crime network, says activist Andy Hall
See also: 30th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – Recruitment agencies accused of deception as Bangladeshi victims speak out on exploitation and fear
See also: 29th Dec 2023: Malay Mail – Set up probe on exploitation of migrant workers and new ministry to manage their affairs, Suhakam tells Putrajaya
See also: 28th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – ‘Company involved in 171 Bangladeshi migrant worker scandal not licensed to recruit’
See also: 28th Dec 2023: FMT – Malaysia has entered ‘slave labour’ territory, says ex-MP – Charles Santiago calls for specific set-ups to manage migrant workers
See also: 27th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – MTUC demand govt, MACC probe into corrupt recruitment practices of foreign workers
See also: 27th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – Strict action against employers, agencies neglecting 171 Bangladeshi workers: MEF
See also: 27th Dec 2023: FMT – Bangladeshis duped over jobs are victims of human trafficking, says rights group
See also: 26th Dec 2023: FMT – Azalina wants urgent probe into 171 Bangladeshis duped over jobs
See also: 26th Dec 2023: FMT – High recruitment fees make greedy agents bring in workers, says group
See also: 25th Dec 2023: FMT – Probe recruitment agents, MACC told after arrest of Bangladeshis
See also: 25th Dec 2023: FMT – Human resources ministry comes to the rescue of Bangladeshi workers
See also: 25th Dec 2023: FMT – Cops nab 171 foreigners protesting lack of jobs in Johor
See also: 25th Dec 2023: The Star – Foreigners march to police station to complain about agent, get hauled up by Immigration Dept instead
22nd November 2023: MALAYSIAKINI – Full probe of migrant worker syndicate, Malaysian HR Minister Sivakumar says
9th November 2023: Malaysia – The State of the Nation: Flaws of foreign worker system laid bare in declassified report
5th November 2023: Malaysian HR Minister pledges nationwide operations concerning plight of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia following Andy Hall’s complaint letter to the OHCHR
See also: 5th Nov 2023: Malaysian HR Minister pledges nationwide operations concerning plight of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia following Andy Hall’s complaint letter to the OHCHR
See also: 30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council
20th October 2023 Malaysiakini: Long-awaited foreign worker management report declassified in Malaysia (my comments added)
See also: 19th Oct 2023: Malaysia facing huge excess of 1/4 million migrant laborers
See also: 21st Sep 2023: Malaysian government has 15 source countries for foreign workers – Comments by Andy Hall
See also: 20th Sep 2023: Rate of abused Bangladeshi workers’ entry into Malaysia worrying, says migrant rights activist Andy Hall
10th July 2023 – Migrants in Malaysia: Hundreds left stranded in recruitment scam
11th April 2023: In Malaysia, migrants say they are in limbo after promised jobs fall through
25th April 2023 Sarawak Post: Malaysia And Modern Slavery – ‘PM Must Take Control’
23rd April 2023: REUTERS: Malaysia probes cases of migrant workers left jobless, without passports (with background summary and articles included in my blog post)
17th April 2023 Daily Star: Approval For Labour Recruitment – Malaysia’s transparency questioned by Bangladesh
13th April 2023: Stranded Bangladeshis endure ‘hell’ in Malaysia – The group of 35 now wants to go home after being left without jobs for months
11th Mar 2023 MALAYSIAKINI: Malaysian HR Minister Sivakumar – Zero checks for migrant quota approvals only until March 2023
13th Feb 2023: My Perspective published by FMT – ‘Time to address corruption in Malaysia’s migrant worker management’
10th Jan 2023: ‘Bangladeshi recruitment cartels’ grip must end’ – Govt now acting on billion-ringgit ‘human trafficking syndicates’
1st Oct 2022 Malay Mail: PM Anwar says Putrajaya to Ease Rules on Hiring Migrant Workers
7th July 2022 The Vibes: How Bestinet courted controversy over migrant worker recruitment – MACC’s raid on IT company once again casts spotlight on alleged hiring monopoly
June 2022 The Star: Human Traffickers made RM2 billion through syndicate smuggling in over 100,000 workers from Bangladesh
