Dhaka wanted to allow all 1,520 licensed recruiting agencies to send manpower to Malaysia, but Kuala Lumpur selected only 101 agents, which industry insiders say are involved in manipulation and exploitation of workers from Bangladesh.

Original Source: The Daily Star by Porimol Palma – 3rd June 2024

Say industry insiders; Dhaka tells UN experts it wanted more competition

In response to a letter by four UN experts on March 28, Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva said Bangladesh and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on December 19, 2021, for labour recruitment.

In pursuance of the MoU, the Malaysian human resources ministry wrote to the Bangladesh’s expatriates’ welfare ministry on January 14, 2022, regarding selection of 25 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.

In response, the expatriates’ welfare ministry on January 18, 2022, wrote to the Malaysian ministry requesting it to keep the opportunity open for all the licenced Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.

See also: Daily Sun 3rd June 2024: Recruiting agencies never made accountable

Malaysia has closed its market to Bangladeshi workers at least three times in the last 15 years.

This is a good summary of the third successful attempt of the criminal syndicate to extort and abuse, three times already. And the fourth time? see HERE.

“The hon’ble minister flagged that this open opportunity would ensure transparency and fairness compatible with the relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) standards as well as the Competition Commission Act, 2012, of Bangladesh,” said the letter from Bangladesh permanent mission.

In a joint working group meeting on March 20, 2023, Bangladesh stressed the same request. In reply, Malaysia increased the number of recruiting agencies from 25 to 101 as per their choice and mandate, including state-owned Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd, it added.

The issue of recruiting foreign workers in Malaysia came to the fore again as there have been numerous reports of joblessness, indebtedness and other forms of exploitation in Malaysia, which halted the foreign workers recruitment on May 31.

Between August 2022 and May 2024, about five lakh Bangladeshi workers went to Malaysia. UN experts in their letter to Bangladesh and Malaysia said the Bangladeshi migrants had to pay $4,500 to $6,000 as recruitment fees.

SCMP 3rd June 2024: ‘Nothing left for me’ as thousands of Bangladeshi workers lose everything in failed bid to work in Malaysia

Daily Star Editorial 3rd June 2024: Must our migrants pay the price every time?

Prothomalo 3rd June 2024 – Bangladesh Labour market: Hapless workers lose all vying to go to Malaysia

They even wrote about the bribes in recruitment process involving the Malaysian government officials, agents, and even Bangladesh high commission in Malaysia.

They called for measures to protect the thousands of Bangladeshi workers who face destitution and risk detention. They also enquired about the measures both the countries were taking regarding bilateral cooperation, policies, and investigations to improve the migrants’ situation.

With none of the countries responding in 60 days, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights made public the letters on May 27. Later, Malaysia’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva replied on May 28 and the Bangladesh mission the next day.

Among other things, Bangladesh mentioned how Malaysia played the role in selecting the 101 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.

Recruitment industry insiders alleged that those who could pay hefty sums to leaders of the syndicate of 101 agencies were selected for the recruitment job.

The Bangladesh mission said the recruitment process and procedures had been agreed upon centred on an online-based system — Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS), which is developed and operated by the Malaysian government.

“As a result, there should be no scope for sending any Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia using false employment visas,” the letter said.

According to Malaysian media, controversial IT company Bestinet is contracted by the Malaysian government to maintain the FWCMS.

Industry insiders said Bestinet President Aminul Islam Abdul Nor is a key figure behind the foreign workers’ recruitment syndicate and manipulation.

The letter of Bangladesh to the UN experts says in the initial stage of the labour recruitment in August 2022, Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia used to inspect the employer companies before attesting the job demand letters — an exercise meant to verify the genuineness of the jobs.

Later, the high commission suspended the process as the Malaysian foreign ministry officially requested the Bangladesh mission not to conduct such company inspection saying the matter fell under the jurisdiction of the competent Malaysian authorities, the letter mentions.

In joint working group meetings, Bangladesh raised the issue of non-placement of newly migrated Bangladeshi workers and requested the Malaysian authorities to take necessary remedial actions.

The letter added that Malaysia’s Department of Labour (DoL) has prohibited 48 employers from recruiting foreign workers, including from Bangladesh.

In the letter, Nadzirah Osman, Malaysian permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, said the DoL relocated 1,664 foreign workers in 2023 and 910 workers this year to new employers.

It said Malaysia restricted the entry of foreign workers in the formal sector since May 31 to close the loopholes of exploitation and allow the government to reassess the country’s foreign workers’ needs.

She reaffirmed Kuala Lumpur’s commitment to protect the rights of migrant workers in the country.

31st May 2024: Malaysian Govt reaffirms commitment to protect migrant workers’ rights to UN

Original Source: FMT by FMT Reporters – 31st May 2024

alaysia responds to a letter from the UN on allegations of fraudulent recruitment of Bangladeshi migrant workers by a criminal network.

PETALING JAYA: The government has reaffirmed its commitment to protect the rights of migrant workers in the country in response to a letter from the United Nations (UN) on March 28.

The response was sent on Tuesday to Beatriz Balbin, chief of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) special procedures branch, by Malaysia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Nadzirah Osman.

“We assure you that Malaysia remains committed to protecting the rights and well-being of migrant workers,” Nadzirah said.Nadzirah Osman.

She added that the response included a supplementary document that outlined the measures taken by the government to combat exploitation and human trafficking.null

It was reported on Tuesday that the government had not yet responded to a letter from the UN regarding allegations of fraudulent recruitment of Bangladeshi migrant workers by a criminal network.

In the letter, four UN experts said they were concerned about the deceptive practice of fake companies recruiting workers from Bangladesh, purportedly for employment in Malaysia.

They highlighted issues such as debt bondage, ill-treatment, and exploitation of migrant workers, all of which aligned with forced labour indicators established by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In her response, Nadzirah cited the landmark case of 733 Bangladeshi migrant workers who were awarded more than RM1 million in unpaid wages after being duped, as evidence of the government’s ongoing efforts to uphold migrant workers’ rights.

In the case cited, as of May 17, some 692 of the 733 affected workers had been placed with new employers through the Johor labour department.

Nadzirah also mentioned other measures taken by the government, including regular business inspections, blacklisting employers based on labour department recommendations, regulating recruitment agencies, and addressing complaints made at labour department offices or through the Working for Workers (WFW) mobile application.

She added that the labour department has also undertaken to rescue and relocate foreign workers who have been exploited by not being given proper jobs, salaries, or adequate accommodation by their employers.

“In 2023, the labour department relocated 1,664 foreign workers to new employers. As of April this year, 910 foreign workers have been relocated to new employers,” Nadzirah said.

She also stressed that the government is committed to addressing issues highlighted by the UN comprehensively.

28th May 2024: FMT – Malaysia yet to respond to UN concerns on alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi migrant victims for forced labour in the country (with my full statement included)

Original Source: FMT by Jason Thomas – 28th May 2024

Experts call on Malaysia to fulfil its international obligation to protect migrant victims from human rights abuses.

UPDATE: Malaysia finally responds to OHCHR accusations on alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangaldeshi migrant workers for forced labour in Malaysia

Full response available: HERE

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has yet to respond to a letter from the United Nations (UN) regarding allegations of fraudulent recruitment of Bangladeshi migrant workers by criminal networks.

The previously confidential communication, now available online, is said to have gone unanswered for 60 days.

In a March 28 letter addressed to Malaysia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, four UN experts said they were concerned about the deceptive practice of fake companies recruiting workers from Bangladesh, purportedly for employment in Malaysia.

The letter claimed that the workers were forced into paying exorbitant recruitment fees, pushing them into debt bondage.

The experts noted that, on arrival, many Bangladeshi migrant workers find that jobs previously promised to them are non-existent. The workers’ plight then forces them into overstaying their visa, risking arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation, they added.

Stressing that the situations described by these workers may amount to human trafficking and forced labour, the experts said the reported violations align with forced labour indicators established by the International Labour Organization.

They also called on Malaysia to fulfil its international obligations by protecting the affected migrant workers from human rights abuses, warning that they face a potentially “alarming humanitarian situation” due to the risk of further exploitation and destitution.

The experts urged the government to give “urgent attention” to the issue by ensuring that all affected migrants are protected from deportation while court cases involving assessments of whether they are victims of trafficking or have been subjected to labour exploitation are ongoing.

They also said the migrants should be given basic assistance to meet their daily needs – including adequate housing, food and other basic items – during their period of unemployment.

Highlighting the names of several businesses believed to be operating as bogus employers, the letter claimed that areas such as Cheras and Chow Kit, both in Kuala Lumpur, and Pengerang, in Johor, have a notable concentration of such workers.

“We believe that the wider public should be alerted to the potential implications of the above-mentioned allegations,” they said.

“We would appreciate receiving a response within 60 days. Past this delay, this communication and any response received from (the Malaysian) government will be made public via the communications reporting website.”

The experts also said the contents of the letter would be made available in their usual report to the UN Human Rights Council.

It reminded the government that failure to provide aid and protection to duped migrant workers would violate the Asean Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, signed in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.

The letter was co-authored by the UN’s special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Tomoya Obokata; the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Gehad Madi; the UN’s special rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Siobhán Mullally; and the UN’s chair-rapporteur of the working group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Robert McCorquodale.

Numerous unanswered questions

The letter sought information about the predicament faced by the duped migrants and assistance given by the government in terms of housing, food, health services, legal and social support.

The government was also asked to explain how private recruitment agencies are regulated, what measures are taken to address and dismantle exploitative migrant worker recruitment networks, and whether there are measures in place to stop bogus companies from issuing permits to migrant workers.

The UN experts also asked for details and results – where available – of investigations, prosecution or criminal charges against government officials, employers or other actors in relation to the allegations, including those pertaining to corruption.

The government was likewise asked about the status of cooperation between the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments to effectively combat criminal networks and facilitate fair and ethical migrant worker recruitment.

A similar letter, sent to Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the UN, also appears to have gone unanswered.

Independent migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall said the failure of the Malaysian and Bangladesh governments to respond to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ communications within the 60-day timeline points to a lack of accountability, and might be taken to suggest that they endorse human trafficking.

“Based on the many years of unsuccessfully engaging the Malaysian government on these and many other similar cases of alleged human trafficking and forced labour, I conclude that a failed migrant management and recruitment system continues to exist in the country,” he said.

FMT has contacted Wisma Putra and the office of Malaysia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva for comment.

27th May 2024: Statement by Andy Hall, Independent Migrant Worker Rights Specialist, on today’s public release of UN OHCHR’s unanswered urgent appeal communications to the Malaysian and Bangladeshi Governments 

Read this story – HERE

The United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva (OHCHR) has today published in full its unanswered urgent appeal communications sent to origin (Bangladesh) and destination (Malaysian) governments regarding exploited and duped Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia who are alleged to be victims of labour trafficking perpetrated by criminal syndicates. 

This set of confidential communications had previously been sent to both Bangladeshi and Malaysian governments by a number of independent UN human rights experts on 28th March 2024. 

DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile 2.pdfDownload

DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile.pdfDownload

The communications were written jointly by the Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and human rights and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. 

Yet today, after 60 days since these confidential communications to the Bangladeshi and Malaysian governments were sent, no response has been received by the UN OHCHR from either government, despite the worsening destitution and abusefaced by stranded Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia at this time. 

The urgent issues raised by the UN experts with the Bangladeshi and Malaysian governments outlined in these communications concern an alleged criminal syndicate that has since mid 2022 trafficked hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia, many of whom remain stranded without work until today.

These workers have been recruited on false promises of jobs and charged exorbitant fees and costs. These cases involve: violations to the physical safety and security of the workers; passport retention and ransom taking; deplorable living conditions; unpaid wages; and debt bondage resulting from extortionate recruitment related costs extracted involving cross border financial crimes, bribery and corruption.

Following submission of complaintsby myself and civil society activists, and after much media publicity, no effective action has been taken by either the Bangladeshi and Malaysian governments to: protect and assist victims; remediate their suffering; or to hold employers, recruitment intermediaries or government officials who authorised and were complicit in this alleged criminal and corrupt trafficking and forced labour syndicate accountable.

In April 2024, following twelve months of widespread reporting of this situation and the sending of the March 28th 2024 set of confidential communications, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) raised similar concerns in a public statement. 

In May 2024, in an exclusive statement issued to FMT news portal, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) likewise raised similar concerns for Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia and pledged support to the Government to address this crisis.

In the joint statement, IOM, ILO and UNODC highlighted Malaysia had ratified the Protocol of 2014 to the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930, thereby renewing its commitment to fight against forced labour in all its forms, including trafficking in persons and debt bondage, and to ensure workers have access to justice and effective legal remedies.

Earlier last week, the former UN Special Rapporteur for human trafficking also reiterated that migrant workers’ vulnerability to trafficking through debt-based coercion indiscriminately raises the cost of migration exponentially.

Media reports on 10th May 2024 outline the first seemingly public reaction by Malaysia to this international condemnation. The Minister of Human Resources, Steven Sim, announced the Labour Department would set up a special unit handling migrant workers’ grievances, without specifying any details or a timeline. As with previous lack of engagement and response, this proposal, whilst welcome, is woefully inadequate.

Examples of ongoing abuses 

In late 2023 and early 2024 when 171 of more than 700 Bangladeshi workers who were left stranded without jobs in Pengerang attempted to lodge complaints, they were arrested and detained. They then lodged claims before the labour department for their employer’s breach of contract to supply work and wages under conditions indicating forced labour.

Although the Malaysian Home and Human Resource Ministers both decried the practice of trading in migrant workers and agreed on new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for dealing with errant employers, systemic foot-dragging has left the workers without an effective remedy. 

In what the government described  as a ‘landmark case,’ the companies involved agreed to pay half of a negotiated compensation settlement by March 21st 2024 and promised to secure jobs for all the workers. Whilst some of these workers have indeed finally secured jobs, many are being poorly paid and compensation has not been forthcoming. Most of these workers remain in situations akin to acute modern slavery.

Likewise 93 Bangladeshi workers left stranded without jobs in Cheras and in destitution employed under the Ricoler Construction Company were rescued by Malaysia’s immigration and anti-trafficking agencies and granted interim protection by a magistrate. The workers were taken to the only Malaysian government shelter for victims of human trafficking in Melaka. Government ministers said in a joint press statement that the employer could face charges under for (i) failing to house workers (ii) pay them wages and additionally be probed for breaching anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling laws. 

21 days later, the workers were simply released from their involuntary retention into the custody of the employer and remain in situations of deprivation and suffering. Most remain unemployed and destitute until this day.

When several workers in March 2024 recently sought to challenge their abusive situation in the Beaks case, both workers and PSM, the support organisation assisting them on the ground, became the target of alleged physical abuse and SLAPP litigation. Again, most of the victims in this case, despite the Minister’s claims to address their plight, remain destitute and unemployed.

These cases are amongst those raised in the OHCHR communications with the Bangladeshi and Malaysian Governments, none of which have been responsed to.   

Questions over Government Inaction

Andy Hall, independent migrant worker rights specialist, today said in response to the release of the OHCHR communications: ‘The failure of the Bangladeshi and  Malaysian governments to respond to UN OHCHR within the 60 days established timeline is purely symptomatic of the lack of rule of law, ingrained impunity and systemic corruption surrounding these migrant worker issues in both countries. Both governments simply cannot respond in any meaningful way to UN agencies, including OHCHR, ILO, IOM and UNODC, as any response at this stage is unlikely to be justifiable or to make much sense. This leaves open the inference that both governments endorse the continually unbroken link between publicly funded government ministries in both countries and transnational organised crime syndicates trafficking migrant workers for forced labour.’

Hall continued: ‘There is no defense for both governments to claim in relation to the grave human rights violations that we see 100,000s of Bangladeshi workers continuing to suffer in Malaysia. After over a decade since enacting laws to combat labour trafficking in Malaysia in particular, administrative loopholes continue to be extended to private interests with the resources to influence public agencies. The Malaysian Government’s lack of transparency as to investigations, detention and prosecutions of culpable actors and inaction leave open the inference  that the government endorses the phenomenon of human trafficking. This is why I recently called for the Malaysian government to be downgraded to the lowest level, Tier 3, in the upcoming U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report 2024.’

Hall finally added: ‘Based on many years of unsuccessfully engaging the Malaysian government on these and many other similar cases of alleged human trafficking and forced labour, I conclude that a failed migrant work management and recruitment system continues to exist in the country that promotes impunity, is devoid of the rule of law and is systemically corrupt. There is little to no accountability for this dire situation, and no remediation at all of its victims.’

Simultaneously, the export overseas of Malaysian goods made using foreign workers in situations of alleged forced labour and human trafficking is negatively impacting Malaysia as trading partners reject these goods. There have been 8 recent bans between 2019 and 2024 on export of goods from Malaysia to the U.S. by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Department (CBP).

For more information on this statement contact Andy Hall on WhatsApp +9779823486634, email andy@andyjhall.org, Twitter @atomicalandy and blog www.andyjhall.org

28th May 2024: Malaysiakini – Malaysian govt yet to respond to UN’s migrant worker abuse allegations

Original Source: Malaysiakini by Ilia Aqilah – 28th May 2024

The Malaysian government has yet to respond to a letter from a team of United Nations experts with queries on alleged abuses of Bangladeshi workers in the country.

The queries were raised by Tomoya Obokata, a UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Robert McCorquodale (chair-rapporteur), Gehad Madi (special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants), and Siobhán Mullally (special rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children).

The official communication, recorded in the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights database, was dated March 28 with a 60-day deadline for response, which ended today.

Communications sent to #Bangladesh & #Malaysia regarding allegations of labour exploitation among Bangladeshi migrant workers are now available from our database at https://t.co/iW7gM2qKqL

Please click on my mandate (slavery) to locate them.— UN Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata (@TomObokata) May 27, 2024

According to the database, the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments have yet to respond.

“We would like to bring to the attention of your Excellency’s Government, the information we have received concerning the fraudulent recruitment of migrant workers by criminal networks operating in Malaysia and countries of origin.

“Migrant workers are deceived, recruited by fake companies and obliged to pay exorbitant recruitment fees which pushes them into debt bondage,” according to the letter.

Recommendations for government 

Further, the letter stated that Bangladeshi migrants had arrived in Malaysia to find no jobs as promised and eventually faced risks of arrest, detention, ill-treatment, deportation, and further exploitation.

The Malaysian government was also recommended to state measures towards resolving the highlighted issues – access to health services, food, legal and social support, the nature of assistance provided to alleged trafficking victims, and the effectiveness of measures to prevent the trafficking of migrant workers in the country.

Following the UN’s revelation about the mismanagement of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia on April 19, the Bangladeshi government expressed their intention to meet with the Malaysian government this month to discuss migrant worker recruitment in the country.

Malaysiakini has contacted Human Resources Minister Steven Sim and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and is waiting for a response

Background Reading:

SCMP 3rd June 2024: ‘Nothing left for me’ as thousands of Bangladeshi workers lose everything in failed bid to work in Malaysia

Daily Star Editorial 3rd June 2024: Must our migrants pay the price every time?

Prothomalo 3rd June 2024 – Bangladesh Labour market: Hapless workers lose all vying to go to Malaysia

Daily Sun 3rd June 2024: IRREGULARITIES IN MIGRATION TO MALAYSIA: Recruiting agencies never made accountable

FMT 3rd June 2024: 17,000 Bangladeshi workers stranded, Dhaka pleads for time

Daily Star 3rd June 2024: 16,970 Bangladeshis failed to reach Malaysia for mismanagement, more destitution and modern slavery will result

See also Daily Star 2nd June 2024: Controversial recruitment system to stay 3 more years

See also Daily Star 2nd June – Jobs in Malaysia: Mismanagement left over 3k workers with no ticket to KL

Daily Star 1st June 2024: Must history repeat itself with the Malaysian labour market’s alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi migrant workers for forced labour

MALAYSIAKINI June 1st 2024: Controversial worker management system BESTINET gets new lease, sources say

1st June 2024 Kalerkantho: Malaysia’s dream ends in deprivation for Bangladeshi migrant workers of criminal syndicate

FMT 31st May 2024: Expect Bangladeshi workers to be stranded and at high risk of modern slavery following Malaysian migration management deadline rush, warns activist

SCMP 31st May 2024: Malaysians shocked by thousands of Bangladeshis crowding at airport to beat deadline for legal work, as UN and activists warn of increased modern slavery risks

CNA 31st May 2024: Over 30,000 workers set to miss deadline to enter Malaysia even as officials clear backlog at KL airport

Prothomalo 31 May 2024 – Bangladesh – Malaysia’s labour market: Repeated syndicates, repeated closure

Prothomalo 31st May 2024: Bangladesh – Thousands of people crowded Dhaka airport without flight tickets to go to Malaysia

31st May 2024: Govt reaffirms commitment to protect migrant workers’ rights to UN

31st May 2024: The closure of the labor market in Malaysia has shattered the dreams of 31,000 workers

Daily Star 31 May 2024 – Recruitment in Malaysia: Syndicate siphons over $1b out of Bangladesh

Daily Sun 31st May 2024: Biman sends 2,000 migrant workers to Malaysia

Business Standard 31st May 2024: Malaysia-bound workers scammed, stranded at Dhaka airport as deadline set to expire today

Daily Star 30th May 2024: Manpower syndicates beyond Dhaka-KL control

30th May 2024: Comment by Andy Hall, independent migrant worker rights specialist, on ongoing migrant worker management crisis in Malaysia and at KLIA airport today, Bangladeshi workers at high risk of modern slavery

CNA 30th May 2024: ‘Congestion’ at KL airport as employers scramble to bring in thousands of migrant workers before deadline

MALAYSIAKINI 30th May 2023: ‘Migrants influx at KLIA due to employers chasing deadline’

30th May 2024 Benar News: Malaysia’s labor market closed – Migrant workers flock to airports in all countries

29th May Daily Star: Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia – Hiring begins with bribery (UN independent experts say Bangladeshi workers pay up to 8 times for migration alone due to corruption of Malaysia ministries, Bangladesh mission and syndicates)

29th May Daily Star: Airfare to Malaysia surges fivefold

FMT 28th May 2024: Malaysia yet to respond to UN concerns on alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi migrant victims for forced labour in the country(with my full statement included)

For Immediate Release 27th May 2024: Statement by Andy Hall, Independent Migrant Worker Rights Specialist, on today’s public release of UN OHCHR’s unanswered urgent appeal communications to the Malaysian and Bangladeshi Governments 

30th May Star: Cyclone smashes Bangladeshi workers’ hopes, extension requested

Channel News Asia 25th May 2024: Malaysia’s bid to revamp hiring of foreign workers through controversial BESTINET process faces pushback; activists say country’s reputation at stake

22nd May 2024: UN expert – Malaysian law enforcement mixing up human trafficking, migrant smuggling – “What steps has Malaysia taken to investigate alleged complicity of public officials in human trafficking?’’

20th May 2024 FMT: Duped Bangladeshi workers won’t impact Malaysia’s US Human trafficking report ranking, says HR Minister Sim

Malay Mail 17th May 2024: Pengerang employer to face Labour Court in Malaysia after failing for months to pay Bangladeshi workers’ wages over RM1m (government statements and my comments included – months on, court agreed mediation settlement unforced, workers allegedly remain in situation akin to acute modern slavery)

16th May 2024: Firm that left over 700 Bangladeshi workers to dry in Pengerang facing possible prosecution (months on, court agreed mediation settlement unforced, workers allegedly remain in situation akin to acute modern slavery)

14th May 2024: FMT – Activists warn of US trafficking report downgrade for Malaysia amid UN criticism

May 10th 2024 The Star: Malaysian Government responds to OHCHR, IOM, ILO and UNODC joint condemnation on alleged Bangaldeshi migrant worker criminal syndicate by pledging to set up special unit handling migrant workers’ grievances, says HR Minister Sim

9th May 2024: Study: 96% of Bangladeshi workers going to Malaysia fall into recruitment debt– The study also said that 82% had two or more loans and 73% of workers spent at least 50% to 100% of their monthly salary to repay recruitment debts

4th May 2024: UN agencies concerned over Bangladeshi workers stranded in Malaysia – Joint Statement of ILO, IOM and UNODC on Alleged Criminal Syndicate Trafficking Bangladeshi Workers for Forced Labour in Malaysia

24th April 2024: Address plight of duped Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia in response to UN warning, govt told (more on the ongoing saga of an alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi migrant workers for forced labour in Malaysia)

19th April 2024: UN (OHCHR) Statement on Alleged Criminal Syndicate Trafficking Bangladeshi Workers for Forced Labour in Malaysia – ‘Malaysia: Bangladeshi workers must be protected from exploitation and criminalisation, say UN experts’

FMT 19th April 2024: UN experts sound alarm over plight of duped Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia

For more on Andy Hall’s complaint to the OHCHR see 30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council

See Daily Star 23rd Apr 2024: Bangladesh Plight of Migrant Workers – Bangladesh, Malaysia working group meeting likely in May

See Daily Star Editorial 23rd Apr 2024: When even legal migrants suffer – Workers migrating to Malaysia legally deserve better protection 

Business Standard 23rd April 2024: Expat Ministry reviews UN complaints on Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia

Prothomalo 23rd April 2024: Bangladesh – Ministry reviewing allegations over Malaysia labour market

BenarNews Malay Language: Pakar PBB gesa Malaysia tangani layanan buruk diterima pekerja Bangladesh (UN expert urges Malaysia to handle bad treatment received by Bangladeshi workers)

Daily Star 19th Apr 2024: UN experts express dismay over situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia

FMT 19th Apr 2024: PSM, news portal set aside order to stop debate on migrant workers’ plight

Daily Star Editorial 17th April 2024: Save our migrants in Malaysia (more on the crisis caused by an alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia)

9th April 2024 The Star – Bangladeshi victims of criminal syndicate trafficking worked for forced labour in Malaysia: ‘Cops after workers, not rogue employers’

7th April 2024: SCMP – As Malaysia’s door closes on low-paid migrant workers, companies scramble for staff (and a systemically corrupt migration management and recruitment policy, devoid of the rule of law and leading to impunity and gross exploitation, is revealed)

6th April 2024 Daily Star: A hostel of nightmares for Bangladeshi migrants allegedly trafficked by criminal syndicate for forced labour in Malaysia (and Daily Star Op Ed)

Daily Star Editorial 6th Apr 2024: What will happen to migrants abandoned in Malaysia?

26th March 2024: The Star – Freeze on foreign workers hiring quota in Malaysia stays for now, says HR Minister (with estimated 200,000+ surplus foreign workforce victims facing destitution and abuse)

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

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

23 Mar 2024 The Star: Verification rate lags as RTK 2.0 deadline approaches

22nd March 2024 Malay Mail: Home minister – Over RM9m in fines collected so far through migrant repatriation programme

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

19th March 2024: FMT – 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

12th March 2024: SCMP – Malaysia to slash migrant workforce amid intolerance, job scam crisis involving Bangladeshi labourers

FMT 11th Mar 2024: Duped migrant jobseekers, victims of alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangaldeshi workers to Malaysia for forced labour, face mental health issues, says Malaysian ex-MP

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 

9th March 2024: Malay Mail – Activists warn rushed 31st March 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 Mar 2024: Malaysian government halts foreign worker entry into the country from 31st May 2024 (final calling visa/VDN approval issuance deadline 31st March 2024) as migrant worker management crisis worsens and victims of gross exploitation, unemployment and destitution rise significantly

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

Mar 5 2024: NCCIM urges govt to review unused foreign worker quota deadline

4th March 2024 URGENT call for donations/support: joining forces with HOPE SELANGOR to fill gap in providing humanitarian aid and assistance to victims of criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers into forced labour in Malaysia

Mar 3rd 2024: Concern on repatriation of potential trafficking and forced labour/abuse victims under Malaysian Migrant Worker Repatriation Programme Commencing 1st March 2024 (Statement by Andy Hall, Independent Migrant Worker Rights Specialist)

FMT 3rd Mar 2024: Ensure ‘crooks’ do not gain from repatriation programme, says activist

Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: A chance for illegals to go home

Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: Sarawak immigration extends RTK2.0 until June

Mar 1st 2024 FMT: 600,000 foreign workers urged to take easy exit home

Mar 1st 2024 The Star: Use repatriation programme to return home, 600,000 illegals told

Feb 28th 2024 The Star: New programme lets migrants off the hook without being prosecuted

Feb 25th 2024 The Star: Businesses want foreign worker hiring freeze lifted

Jan 31st 2024 NST: Govt to implement Migrant Repatriation Programme starting March

Jan 31st 2024 The Edge: Cabinet agrees to extend freeze on hiring of foreign workers, says home minister 

31st Jan 2024 FMT: Migrant repatriation programme set for March 1

31st Jan 2024 The Star: Migration Repatriation Programme to commence on March 1, says Home Ministry

FMT 6th Jan 2024: 171 duped migrant workers deserve compensation, govt told (includes my full statement)

5th Jan 2024: New Strait Times – MCA: Don’t just fine employers, hold ministry accountable as well for unemployed foreign workers

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

30th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – Recruitment agencies accused of deception as Bangladeshi victims speak out on exploitation and fear

29th Dec 2023: Malay Mail – Set up probe on exploitation of migrant workers and new ministry to manage their affairs, Suhakam tells Putrajaya

28th Dec 2023: FMT – Malaysia has entered ‘slave labour’ territory, says ex-MP – Charles Santiago calls for specific set-ups to manage migrant workers 

27th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – MTUC demand govt, MACC probe into corrupt recruitment practices of foreign workers

26th Dec 2023: FMT – High recruitment fees make greedy agents bring in workers, says group

25th Dec 2023: FMT – Probe recruitment agents, MACC told after arrest of Bangladeshis

22nd Nov 2023: MALAYSIAKINI – Full probe of migrant worker syndicate, Malaysian HR Minister Sivakumar says

9th Nov 2023: Malaysia – The State of the Nation: Flaws of foreign worker system laid bare in declassified report

30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council

23rd Oct 2023: RESPONSE FROM THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN REGARDS TO AN ARTICLE BY MR. ANDY HALL/HR Minister – strict actions against employers who fail to comply with Malaysia’s labour and immigration laws

20th Oct 2023 Malaysiakini: Long-awaited foreign worker management report declassified in Malaysia (my comments added)

19th Oct 2023: Malaysia facing huge excess of 1/4 million migrant laborers

21st Sep 2023: Malaysian government has 15 source countries for foreign workers – Comments by Andy Hall

20th Sep 2023: Rate of abused Bangladeshi workers’ entry into Malaysia worrying, says migrant rights activist Andy Hall

12th July 2023: excellent final offering from a 4 part account of atypical modern-day slavery, forced labour and abuse perpetrated against a group of migrant workers from Bangladesh in Malaysia, written concisely and passionately by former MP from Malaysia Charles Santiago

Aljazeera News TV 10th July 2023 – Migrants in Malaysia: Hundreds left stranded in recruitment scam

Reuters 11th Apr 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

FMT 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

The post 3rd June 2024 – Bangladeshi Migrant Worker Exploitation and Malaysian Labour Market Alleged Criminal Syndicate: The agencies picked by KL to blame, Bangladesh tells UN OHCHR appeared first on Andy Hall.

19th April 2024: UN (OHCHR) Statement on Alleged Criminal Syndicate Trafficking Bangladeshi Workers for Forced Labour in Malaysia – ‘Malaysia: Bangladeshi workers must be protected from exploitation and criminalisation, say UN experts’

UN experts expressed dismay about the situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia, who had travelled there in the hope of employment after engaging in the official labour migration process.

UN Statement Available – HERE

Overview of situation:

FMT 19th April 2024: UN experts sound alarm over plight of duped Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia

FMT Source: FMT by Jason Thomas – 19th April 2024

They say certain high-level officials in Malaysia and Bangladesh are reportedly involved in criminal networks which are fraudulently recruiting migrant workers.

PETALING JAYA: A group of United Nations experts has called on Malaysia to do more to protect Bangladeshi migrant workers from being exploited into coming to Malaysia for non-existent jobs.

In a statement to FMT, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts said they were dismayed at reports about Bangladeshi migrants who travelled to Malaysia after being promised employment, only to find out they had been duped.

They also expressed concern that large amounts of money are being generated through the fraudulent recruitment of migrant workers by criminal networks operating between Malaysia and Bangladesh.

The experts said migrants were being deceived as they were recruited by companies that are frequently fake, and obliged to pay exorbitant recruitment fees which push them into debt bondage.

They noted that many migrants find on arrival in Malaysia that they do not have employment as promised, and are often forced into overstaying their visas, which results in them risking arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation.

“The situation of Bangladeshi migrants who have lived in Malaysia for several months or longer (without jobs) is unsustainable and undignified,” the statement said.

“Malaysia needs to take urgent measures to address the dire humanitarian situation of migrants and protect them from exploitation, criminalisation and other human rights abuses.

“We received reports that certain high-level officials in both governments are involved in this business or condoning it. This is unacceptable and needs to end.

“Perpetrators of these exploitative recruitments must be held accountable.”

The experts said the action taken against these private businesses and fraudulent recruitment companies in Malaysia and Bangladesh so far has been “wholly insufficient”.

The statement was issued by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Slavery, Tomoya Obokata; the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Siobhan Mullally; the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, Gehad Madi; and other experts.

Stating that some migrants have faced severe reprisals for reporting the exploitation suffered, they urged Malaysia to handle labour migration more effectively by adopting adequate safeguards.

They said Malaysia must fulfil its obligations under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, under which it has to protect migrant workers against human rights abuses by businesses operating in the country and ensure that these businesses respect human rights.

The experts also said Malaysia must step up efforts to identify, protect and assist victims of exploitation, enforce existing legal protections against trafficking in persons, and uphold the country’s international human rights obligations.

They said they have previously engaged with the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments on these issues.

Last October, migrant rights activist Andy Hall referred the country’s poor response to the plight of these Bangladeshi workers to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a body under the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

Describing the workers’ situation as “dire”, he provided details of their poor living conditions, including cramped quarters, poor sanitation, and limited food, and how they became indebted due to exorbitant recruitment costs.

Hall had also sent the documented complaints to the UN special rapporteurs on slavery, trafficking, migrants, and poverty; the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and Pia Oberoi, the senior adviser on migration and human rights for Asia Pacific.

UN Statement:

19th April 2024: NEWS RELEASE – Malaysia: Bangladeshi workers must be protected from exploitation and criminalisation, say UN experts

UN Statement Available – HERE – 19th April 2024

GENEVA (19 April 2024) – UN experts* today expressed dismay about the situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia, who had travelled there in the hope of employment after engaging in the official labour migration process.

“The situation of Bangladeshi migrants who have lived in Malaysia for several months or longer is unsustainable and undignified,” the experts said. “Malaysia needs to take urgent measures to address the dire humanitarian situation of migrants and protect them from exploitation, criminalisation and other human rights abuses.”

They noted that many migrants find on arrival in Malaysia that they do not have employment as promised and are often forced into overstaying their visas. Consequently, these migrants risk arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation, the experts said.

They expressed concern that large sums of money were being generated through the fraudulent recruitment of migrant workers by criminal networks operating between Malaysia and Bangladesh. Migrants were being deceived, recruited by companies that are frequently fake, and obliged to pay exorbitant recruitment fees which pushes them into debt bondage, the experts said.

“We received reports that certain high-level officials in both Governments are involved in this business or condoning it. This is unacceptable and needs to end,” the experts said. “Perpetrators of these exploitative recruitments must be held accountable,” they said, adding that so far action taken against these private businesses and fraudulent recruitment companies have been wholly insufficient, both in Bangladesh and Malaysia. “Meanwhile, vulnerable migrants have been criminalised and some have faced severe reprisals for reporting the exploitation suffered,” they said.

They urged Malaysia and Bangladesh to investigate and address the situation. “Malaysia must govern labour migration more effectively by adopting adequate safeguards,” the experts said, urging the country to fulfil its obligations under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to protect migrant workers against human rights abuses by businesses operating in Malaysia and ensure that these businesses respect human rights. Malaysia must also step up efforts to identify, protect and assist victims of exploitation, enforce existing legal protections against trafficking in persons and uphold the country’s international human rights obligations, they said.

The experts have previously engaged with the Governments of Malaysia and Bangladesh on these issues.

*The experts: Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and Robert McCorquodale (Chair-Rapporteur), Fernanda Hopenhaym (Vice-Chair), Pichamon Yeophantong, Damilola Olawuyi, Elzbieta Karska, Working Group on business and human rights

Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

For inquiries and media requests, please contact: Satya Jennings (satya.jennings@un.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts.

——

*Bangladeshi response to UN statement*

See Daily Star 23rd Apr 2024: Bangladesh Plight of Migrant Workers – Bangladesh, Malaysia working group meeting likely in May

See Daily Star Editorial 23rd Apr 2024: When even legal migrants suffer – Workers migrating to Malaysia legally deserve better protection

Business Standard 23rd April 2024: Expat Ministry reviews UN complaints on Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia

Prothomalo 23rd April 2024: Bangladesh – Ministry reviewing allegations over Malaysia labour market

——

BenarNews Malay Language: Pakar PBB gesa Malaysia tangani layanan buruk diterima pekerja Bangladesh (UN expert urges Malaysia to handle bad treatment received by Bangladeshi workers)

Oleh Helmi Foad di Kuala Lumpur

https://www.facebook.com/100063698868032/posts/935965688536718/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Pakar di Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) pada Jumaat melahirkan rasa kecewa dengan situasi yang menimpa migran Bangladesh di Malaysia setelah datang ke negara itu dengan harapan memperoleh pekerjaan selepas melalui proses rasmi pengambilan buruh warga asing.

Mereka berkata rakyat Bangladesh yang tiba di Malaysia tidak mendapat pekerjaan seperti yang dijanjikan dan sering terpaksa tinggal lebih masa hingga berdepan risiko ditangkap, menerima layanan buruk dan tindakan pengusiran.

“Keadaan warga Bangladesh yang telah tinggal di Malaysia selama beberapa bulan atau lebih lama adalah tidak mampan dan tidak bermaruah,” kata pakar badan dunia itu di Geneva.

“Malaysia perlu mengambil langkah segera menangani situasi kemanusiaan pekerja asing yang teruk dan melindungi mereka daripada eksploitasi, jenayah dan pencabulan hak asasi manusia.”

Pakar tersebut melahirkan kebimbangan bahawa sejumlah besar wang dikaut melalui penipuan pengambilan pekerja asing oleh rangkaian jenayah yang beroperasi antara Malaysia dan Bangladesh.

Para migran telah ditipu, direkrut oleh syarikat yang selalunya palsu dan diwajibkan membayar yuran pengambilan terlalu tinggi hingga menyebabkan mereka terbelenggu dengan hutang,” kata pakar.

Pakar itu mendakwa mereka menerima laporan terdapat pegawai peringkat tinggi tertentu dalam kedua-dua kerajaan terlibat dalam perniagaan itu atau membenarkannya.

Mereka menggesa Malaysia dan Bangladesh menyiasat dan menangani situasi tersebut.

“Malaysia mesti menguruskan kemasukan buruh secara lebih berkesan dengan mengamalkan perlindungan yang mencukupi,” kata pakar tersebut, menggesa negara itu memenuhi kewajipannya di bawah Prinsip Panduan PBB mengenai Perniagaan dan Hak Asasi Manusia untuk melindungi pekerja asing daripada pencabulan hak asasi manusia.

Keterangan gambar:- Sebuah taman perumahan yang dipercayai menjadi perkampungan pendatang asing diserbu pihak berkuasa dalam satu operasi bersepadu di Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, 29 Februari 2024. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

bangladesh #Malaysia #PBB #pekerjaan

—-

Migration

Daily Star 19th Apr 2024: UN experts express dismay over situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia

Star Digital Report

Sourced from: https://www.thedailystar.net/nrb/migration/news/un-experts-express-dismay-over-situation-bangladeshi-migrants-malaysia-3590671

UN experts today expressed dismay about the situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia, who had travelled there in the hope of employment after engaging in the official labour migration process.

“The situation of Bangladeshi migrants who have lived in Malaysia for several months or is unsustainable and undignified,” the experts said, according to a statement of the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) issued today.

They expressed concern that large sums of money were being generated through the fraudulent recruitment of migrant workers by criminal networks operating between Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Save our migrants in Malaysia

They said migrants were being deceived, recruited by companies that are frequently fake, and obliged to pay exorbitant recruitment fees which pushes them into debt bondage.

“We received reports that certain high-level officials in both governments are involved in this business or condoning it. This is unacceptable and needs to end,” the experts said.

The independent experts who made the statements have previously engaged with the governments of Malaysia and Bangladesh on these issues.

Read more

Bangladeshis in Malaysia: Cops after workers, not rogue employers

They include Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and Robert McCorquodale (Chair-Rapporteur), Fernanda Hopenhaym (Vice-Chair), Pichamon Yeophantong, Damilola Olawuyi, Elzbieta Karska of the Working Group on business and human rights.

According to the independent researchers and migrants who talked to this newspaper, each of the migrants paid around Tk 500,000 for a job in Malaysia.

Foreign workers: Malaysia govt extends visa deadline to April 21

Since the end of 2022, more than 400,000 Bangladeshis have migrated to Malaysia for jobs under a syndicated of 100 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies selected by the Malaysian government. But, a significant portion of them are facing joblessness, underpayment or no payment. In total, there are around 800,000 Bangladeshis in Malaysia.

Earlier in 2018, Malaysia had frozen the recruitment of Bangladeshis saying that there was corruption, debt bondage and Han trafficking.

There were also numerous media reports on the labour exploitation and malpractices of migration in the Bangladesh-Malaysia corridor.

What will happen to migrants abandoned in Malaysia?

“Malaysia needs to take urgent measures to address the dire humanitarian situation of migrants and protect them from exploitation, criminalisation and other human rights abuses,” the UN experts said.

They noted that many migrants find on arrival in Malaysia that they do not have employment as promised and are often forced into overstaying their visas. Consequently, these migrants risk arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation.

“Perpetrators of these exploitative recruitments must be held accountable,” they said, adding that so far action taken against these private businesses and fraudulent recruitment companies have been wholly insufficient, both in Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Malaysia’s freeze on hiring foreign workers: Big blow for Bangladesh’s aspiring migrant workers

“Meanwhile, vulnerable migrants have been criminalised and some have faced severe reprisals for reporting the exploitation suffered,” they said.

They urged Malaysia and Bangladesh to investigate and address the situation.

“Malaysia must govern labour migration more effectively by adopting adequate safeguards,” the experts said.

Malaysia employer framed Bangladeshi workers

They urged the country to fulfil its obligations under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to protect migrant workers against human rights abuses by businesses operating in Malaysia and ensure that these businesses respect human rights.

Malaysia must also step up efforts to identify, protect, and assist victims of exploitation, enforce existing legal protections against trafficking in persons and uphold the country’s international human rights obligations, the experts said.

——

Background Reading:

For more on Andy Hall’s complaint to the OHCHR see 30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council

FMT 19th Apr 2024: PSM, news portal set aside order to stop debate on migrant workers’ plight

Daily Star Editorial 17th April 2024: Save our migrants in Malaysia (more on the crisis caused by an alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia)

9th April 2024 The Star – Bangladeshi victims of criminal syndicate trafficking worked for forced labour in Malaysia: ‘Cops after workers, not rogue employers’

7th April 2024: SCMP – As Malaysia’s door closes on low-paid migrant workers, companies scramble for staff (and a systemically corrupt migration management and recruitment policy, devoid of the rule of law and leading to impunity and gross exploitation, is revealed)

6th April 2024 Daily Star: A hostel of nightmares for Bangladeshi migrants allegedly trafficked by criminal syndicate for forced labour in Malaysia (and Daily Star Op Ed)

Daily Star Editorial 6th Apr 2024: What will happen to migrants abandoned in Malaysia?

26th March 2024: The Star – Freeze on foreign workers hiring quota in Malaysia stays for now, says HR Minister (with estimated 200,000+ surplus foreign workforce victims facing destitution and abuse)

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

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

23 Mar 2024 The Star: Verification rate lags as RTK 2.0 deadline approaches

22nd March 2024 Malay Mail: Home minister – Over RM9m in fines collected so far through migrant repatriation programme

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

19th March 2024: FMT – 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

12th March 2024: SCMP – Malaysia to slash migrant workforce amid intolerance, job scam crisis involving Bangladeshi labourers

FMT 11th Mar 2024: Duped migrant jobseekers, victims of alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangaldeshi workers to Malaysia for forced labour, face mental health issues, says Malaysian ex-MP

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 

9th March 2024: Malay Mail – Activists warn rushed 31st March 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 Mar 2024: Malaysian government halts foreign worker entry into the country from 31st May 2024 (final calling visa/VDN approval issuance deadline 31st March 2024) as migrant worker management crisis worsens and victims of gross exploitation, unemployment and destitution rise significantly

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

Mar 5 2024: NCCIM urges govt to review unused foreign worker quota deadline

4th March 2024 URGENT call for donations/support: joining forces with HOPE SELANGOR to fill gap in providing humanitarian aid and assistance to victims of criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers into forced labour in Malaysia

Mar 3rd 2024: Concern on repatriation of potential trafficking and forced labour/abuse victims under Malaysian Migrant Worker Repatriation Programme Commencing 1st March 2024 (Statement by Andy Hall, Independent Migrant Worker Rights Specialist)

FMT 3rd Mar 2024: Ensure ‘crooks’ do not gain from repatriation programme, says activist

Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: A chance for illegals to go home

Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: Sarawak immigration extends RTK2.0 until June

Mar 1st 2024 FMT: 600,000 foreign workers urged to take easy exit home

Mar 1st 2024 The Star: Use repatriation programme to return home, 600,000 illegals told

Feb 28th 2024 The Star: New programme lets migrants off the hook without being prosecuted

Feb 25th 2024 The Star: Businesses want foreign worker hiring freeze lifted

Jan 31st 2024 NST: Govt to implement Migrant Repatriation Programme starting March

Jan 31st 2024 The Edge: Cabinet agrees to extend freeze on hiring of foreign workers, says home minister 

31st Jan 2024 FMT: Migrant repatriation programme set for March 1

31st Jan 2024 The Star: Migration Repatriation Programme to commence on March 1, says Home Ministry

FMT 6th Jan 2024: 171 duped migrant workers deserve compensation, govt told (includes my full statement)

5th Jan 2024: New Strait Times – MCA: Don’t just fine employers, hold ministry accountable as well for unemployed foreign workers

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

30th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – Recruitment agencies accused of deception as Bangladeshi victims speak out on exploitation and fear

29th Dec 2023: Malay Mail – Set up probe on exploitation of migrant workers and new ministry to manage their affairs, Suhakam tells Putrajaya

28th Dec 2023: FMT – Malaysia has entered ‘slave labour’ territory, says ex-MP – Charles Santiago calls for specific set-ups to manage migrant workers 

27th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – MTUC demand govt, MACC probe into corrupt recruitment practices of foreign workers

26th Dec 2023: FMT – High recruitment fees make greedy agents bring in workers, says group

25th Dec 2023: FMT – Probe recruitment agents, MACC told after arrest of Bangladeshis

22nd Nov 2023: MALAYSIAKINI – Full probe of migrant worker syndicate, Malaysian HR Minister Sivakumar says

9th Nov 2023: Malaysia – The State of the Nation: Flaws of foreign worker system laid bare in declassified report

30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council

23rd Oct 2023: RESPONSE FROM THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN REGARDS TO AN ARTICLE BY MR. ANDY HALL/HR Minister – strict actions against employers who fail to comply with Malaysia’s labour and immigration laws

20th Oct 2023 Malaysiakini: Long-awaited foreign worker management report declassified in Malaysia (my comments added)

19th Oct 2023: Malaysia facing huge excess of 1/4 million migrant laborers

21st Sep 2023: Malaysian government has 15 source countries for foreign workers – Comments by Andy Hall

20th Sep 2023: Rate of abused Bangladeshi workers’ entry into Malaysia worrying, says migrant rights activist Andy Hall

12th July 2023: excellent final offering from a 4 part account of atypical modern-day slavery, forced labour and abuse perpetrated against a group of migrant workers from Bangladesh in Malaysia, written concisely and passionately by former MP from Malaysia Charles Santiago

Aljazeera News TV 10th July 2023 – Migrants in Malaysia: Hundreds left stranded in recruitment scam

Reuters 11th Apr 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

FMT 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

The post 19th April 2024: UN (OHCHR) Statement on Alleged Criminal Syndicate Trafficking Bangladeshi Workers for Forced Labour in Malaysia – ‘Malaysia: Bangladeshi workers must be protected from exploitation and criminalisation, say UN experts’ appeared first on Andy Hall.

Over the past month, The Daily Star has published multiple reports and editorials about Bangladeshi migrants who face unmet promises and exploitative employers in Malaysia as a result of a criminal syndicate trafficking ring.

Original Source: The Daily Star – Editorial – 17th April 2024

However, we are dismayed to learn that authorities in the destination country are actually taking action against workers and on behalf of corrupt employers. In a recent letter to the Malaysian attorney general, the Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM) alleged that despite complaints to the police and the human resources department, filed by migrants and the PSM, no action has been taken against employers who confiscated workers’ passports and failed to provide them with jobs and salaries. Instead, Malaysian police are now investigating employers’ claims that the complaints filed by Bangladeshi workers are fake. There are also claims of employers having taken workers’ signatures on blank papers, which the latter fear could be used against them. In such circumstances, the support extended to our migrants by the PSM is admirable.

Unfortunately, such blatant use of intimidation by Malaysian employers against Bangladeshi migrants has been a continuous thing, largely unconfronted by authorities in both countries. Then there’s the dominance of corrupt syndicates in the recruiting process and the sky-high amounts workers must borrow to pay off recruiters. As we know from previous reports, researchers estimate that out of around 800,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers, between 100,000 and 200,000 remain jobless, unpaid, and in debt.

Bangladesh’s connection with Malaysia, in terms of exporting its human resources there, has been a murky one for decades. But the trial-and-error process of making recruitment corruption-free has resulted in too many lives (of Bangladeshi workers) ruined and even lost altogether. We know a government-to-government process, bypassing private agencies, was adopted in 2012 to solve the crisis. But since that failed, why have we not seen our government hardening its approach of sending our workers to Malaysia? What of those workers who are now trapped in that country, their passports seized, and justice eluding them? This cannot be.

What will happen to migrants abandoned in Malaysia?

We urge the government to wake up and pay attention to the harrowing reality of the hundreds of migrants in Malaysia. Our authorities must compel their counterpart in the destination country to put an end to the exploitation and discrimination committed by the Malaysian employers. The dream of a stable livelihood in a foreign country cannot keep turning into a nightmare for the thousands of Bangladeshis in Malaysia.

Background Reading:

FMT 19th Apr 2024: PSM, news portal set aside order to stop debate on migrant workers’ plight

9th April 2024 – Bangladeshi victims of criminal syndicate trafficking worked for forced labour in Malaysia: ‘Cops after workers, not rogue employers’

Daily Star April 6th 2024: A hostel of nightmares for Bangladeshi migrants allegedly trafficked by criminal syndicate for forced labour in Malaysia (and Daily Star Op Ed)

Daily Star Editorial 6th Apr 2024: What will happen to migrants abandoned in Malaysia?

26th March 2024: The Star – Freeze on foreign workers hiring quota in Malaysia stays for now, says HR Minister (with estimated 200,000+ surplus foreign workforce victims facing destitution and abuse)

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

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

23 Mar 2024 The Star: Verification rate lags as RTK 2.0 deadline approaches

22nd March 2024 Malay Mail: Home minister – Over RM9m in fines collected so far through migrant repatriation programme

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

19th March 2024: FMT – 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

12th March 2024: SCMP – Malaysia to slash migrant workforce amid intolerance, job scam crisis involving Bangladeshi labourers

FMT 11th Mar 2024: Duped migrant jobseekers, victims of alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangaldeshi workers to Malaysia for forced labour, face mental health issues, says Malaysian ex-MP

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 

9th March 2024: Malay Mail – Activists warn rushed 31st March 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 Mar 2024: Malaysian government halts foreign worker entry into the country from 31st May 2024 (final calling visa/VDN approval issuance deadline 31st March 2024) as migrant worker management crisis worsens and victims of gross exploitation, unemployment and destitution rise significantly

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

Mar 5 2024: NCCIM urges govt to review unused foreign worker quota deadline

4th March 2024 URGENT call for donations/support: joining forces with HOPE SELANGOR to fill gap in providing humanitarian aid and assistance to victims of criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers into forced labour in Malaysia

Mar 3rd 2024: Concern on repatriation of potential trafficking and forced labour/abuse victims under Malaysian Migrant Worker Repatriation Programme Commencing 1st March 2024 (Statement by Andy Hall, Independent Migrant Worker Rights Specialist)

FMT 3rd Mar 2024: Ensure ‘crooks’ do not gain from repatriation programme, says activist

Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: A chance for illegals to go home

Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: Sarawak immigration extends RTK2.0 until June

Mar 1st 2024 FMT: 600,000 foreign workers urged to take easy exit home

Mar 1st 2024 The Star: Use repatriation programme to return home, 600,000 illegals told

Feb 28th 2024 The Star: New programme lets migrants off the hook without being prosecuted

Feb 25th 2024 The Star: Businesses want foreign worker hiring freeze lifted

Jan 31st 2024 NST: Govt to implement Migrant Repatriation Programme starting March

Jan 31st 2024 The Edge: Cabinet agrees to extend freeze on hiring of foreign workers, says home minister 

31st Jan 2024 FMT: Migrant repatriation programme set for March 1

31st Jan 2024 The Star: Migration Repatriation Programme to commence on March 1, says Home Ministry

FMT 6th Jan 2024: 171 duped migrant workers deserve compensation, govt told (includes my full statement)

5th Jan 2024: New Strait Times – MCA: Don’t just fine employers, hold ministry accountable as well for unemployed foreign workers

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

30th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – Recruitment agencies accused of deception as Bangladeshi victims speak out on exploitation and fear

29th Dec 2023: Malay Mail – Set up probe on exploitation of migrant workers and new ministry to manage their affairs, Suhakam tells Putrajaya

28th Dec 2023: FMT – Malaysia has entered ‘slave labour’ territory, says ex-MP – Charles Santiago calls for specific set-ups to manage migrant workers 

27th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – MTUC demand govt, MACC probe into corrupt recruitment practices of foreign workers

26th Dec 2023: FMT – High recruitment fees make greedy agents bring in workers, says group

25th Dec 2023: FMT – Probe recruitment agents, MACC told after arrest of Bangladeshis

22nd Nov 2023: MALAYSIAKINI – Full probe of migrant worker syndicate, Malaysian HR Minister Sivakumar says

9th Nov 2023: Malaysia – The State of the Nation: Flaws of foreign worker system laid bare in declassified report

30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council

23rd Oct 2023: RESPONSE FROM THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN REGARDS TO AN ARTICLE BY MR. ANDY HALL/HR Minister – strict actions against employers who fail to comply with Malaysia’s labour and immigration laws

20th Oct 2023 Malaysiakini: Long-awaited foreign worker management report declassified in Malaysia (my comments added)

19th Oct 2023: Malaysia facing huge excess of 1/4 million migrant laborers

21st Sep 2023: Malaysian government has 15 source countries for foreign workers – Comments by Andy Hall

20th Sep 2023: Rate of abused Bangladeshi workers’ entry into Malaysia worrying, says migrant rights activist Andy Hall

12th July 2023: excellent final offering from a 4 part account of atypical modern-day slavery, forced labour and abuse perpetrated against a group of migrant workers from Bangladesh in Malaysia, written concisely and passionately by former MP from Malaysia Charles Santiago

Aljazeera News TV 10th July 2023 – Migrants in Malaysia: Hundreds left stranded in recruitment scam

Reuters 11th Apr 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

FMT 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

The post 17th April 2024: Daily Star Editorial – Save our migrants in Malaysia (more on the crisis caused by an alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia) appeared first on Andy Hall.

Malaysia is battling scams that have left migrant workers jobless and penniless in the country. The exploitation of its foreign worker hiring system is said to have affected thousands of migrants, and the government has vowed to haul errant employers to court. Melissa Goh with more.

Full YouTube Video – HERE

Full Video – HERE

The post 19th January 2024: Malaysia tackling scams affecting thousands of migrant workers appeared first on Andy Hall.

Women interviewed by the Guardian report UAE agencies denying them food and passports, holding them captive, and ‘selling’ them on social media.

Original Article: The Guardian by Katie McQue – 12th October 2023.

Women seeking jobs as domestic workers in the UAE allege they are being detained and abused in squalid accommodation, while recruiters sell them over apps and social media platforms to household employers, according to interviews and documents seen by the Guardian.

In a series of interviews conducted over several years, 14 women from east Africa and the Philippines recounted their experiences with recruitment agencies, including alleging they were denied food, held captive and treated violently.

The Guardian has also seen evidence that the women are being marketed in an “exploitative” way reminiscent of slavery, according to one expert, with employers charged less for the services of black domestic workers and being told they do not even need to provide them with proper bedrooms.

The women’s testimony gives a rare insight into what life is like in domestic worker agency accommodation as migrants wait, in limbo, for an employer to take them on. It is a process that can take months, with women often being returned to the agencies at the whim of an employer.

“The moment we landed [agency staff] took our passports. Then we went to this house. In one little room, eight or nine of us slept. Using mobile phones wasn’t allowed,” says Margarita*, a Filipina who was recruited by an agency in the Emirate of Ajman. “We lie together on the floor until someone buys us.”

Migrant worker testimony

Those interviewed were all recruited for work in the UAE in their home countries, some by members of their communities acting as brokers and others by responding to adverts on Facebook. Many expected to be placed immediately with an employer when they reached Dubai. Instead, they were locked in their agency’s accommodation for up to several months without earning a salary to support their families back home.

Angelica Pine, 28, was held for four months by an agency in 2019. She claims she was violently assaulted by a female member of staff.

“She has a bad temper. She kicked me, threw me in her room, pulled my hair, slapped my face, and also she took my personal things like my mobile phone,” says Pine.

The Guardian has spoken to some of these women for up to three years. Some have now made it back to their home countries, after receiving repatriation assistance from their embassies, and are able to give their testimony on their experiences. However, several say they personally know other women who are trapped in recruitment agency accommodation.

Mary*, 34, from Kenya, is stuck in the UAE and told the Guardian she wants to leave her employer. She is exhausted from working more than 18 hours each day, with no day off, for a salary equivalent to $327 (£270) a month. She alleges the employers she was placed with installed cameras in her bedroom, and she says it is difficult to change clothes because she knows they can see her. She asked her recruiters for help to leave but says they accused her of “creating drama”.

“I am still afraid of the agency because I am still under them,” says Mary, who was not given a contract before starting her job. “We are suffering.”

UAE recruitment agencies routinely advertise the women they are holding for sale online. The Guardian has located dozens of these adverts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, where women’s photos are displayed, alongside their personal information, where prospective buyers leave comments on the pages and inquire about prices.

All of these adverts were posted by recruitment agencies that had been awarded a licence to operate from the UAE government, and are supposedly certified as companies that protect the rights of the employers and domestic workers.

“The staff force you to put on a hijab, then they film a video of you,” says Nia, 27, from Kenya. “If someone likes your profile, they come to the office, and you do a live interview. You have no option; you need a job.” Nia ultimately spent three months locked in a compound in Dubai that her agency used to hold women in 2021.

Maids.cc, a licensed recruitment agency, has an app and website from where people can select, order and pay for a maid without even meeting her first.

“Get a full-time maid or a maid visa online in 5 minutes. Cancel anytime,” the website states. “You get the maid on the same day. View maids’ videos and hire your favourite. We’ll Uber her to you on the same day.”

It further promotes the convenience of its services on its frequently asked questions page: “Zero legal liability. Maid stays on our visa, so you’ll never have to worry about any legal consequences. If anything goes wrong (eg runaway maid, pregnancy), we’re responsible to deal with any lawsuits or visits to police stations, not you.”

The monthly prices users pay per maid are according to race, the website states – with employers charged less for the services of a black maid. “Filipinas AED3,500 ($952)/month” and “Africans AED2,700 ($735)/month,” it states, but does not disclose the amount of the payment that is actually received by the maid in salary.

The working and living conditions afforded to maids are also decided by race. The website states that Filipina maids require a bedroom of their own to sleep in, while African maids do not.

“It’s hard to know where to start: is the worst thing pricing humans by their race and nationality, promising to deliver a woman to your house by Uber same-day delivery, or claiming that African employees do not need bedrooms?” says James Lynch, co-director of FairSquare, a human rights nonprofit organisation, after reviewing the matters presented to him by the Guardian.

“Demeaning, commodifying and exploiting people like this recalls the trade in enslaved people, conducted online rather than at physical markets,” says Lynch.

Separately, another agency, Leadership Tadbeer (sometimes known as Tadbeer WTC), in Abu Dhabi, advertises maids on TikTok and Instagram. On Instagram, the women advertised are from Indonesia, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka. Their services are being sold for between AED1,100 and AED1,400 a month.

“The practice of advertising domestic workers based on national origin with their personal details has long been a practice in the UAE,” says Rothna Begum, of Human Rights Watch. “This shows how little the authorities are doing to protect domestic workers rights.”

A spokesperson for Leadership Tadbeer said: “Regarding the issue you highlighted, here in the UAE our minister of human resources has organised the relationship between the sponsor, worker and agents.

“Regarding the salary, don’t forget there is also free accommodation, free food, free personal staff, phone allowance and good health insurance. You can see here in UAE, more than 200 nationalities live together safely. Everyone here respects each other.”

Meanwhile, the Dubai-based Al Forsan Tadbeer agency adverts on Instagram and Facebook list the maid’s names, ages, marital status, passport number, nationality, number of children and weight, and describe their “complexion” in terms such as “fair”, “black”, etc, alongside their photographs.

“There is a close association between dehumanising practices in the recruitment process and wider abuse,” says Lynch. “Put simply, the less that recruitment agents and employers acknowledge the humanity of domestic workers, the less obliged they feel to treat them with dignity and respect.”

A spokesperson for the UAE government told the Guardian: “The UAE maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards workplace abuse. UAE law also prohibits any form of abuse towards employees who undertake workshops regarding their rights and ways to report abuse.

“We conduct comprehensive investigations whenever individuals and/or entities act in such a manner that contravenes UAE legislation. Those that are found to be at fault are held accountable in line with UAE law and legislation.

“UAE labour law mandates that all employees must have paid leave, rest days, medical insurance, accommodation, meals, possession of their personal IDs, and access to free-of-charge legal support. The UAE continues to take active and resolute steps in implementing laws, regulations and monitoring measures to enhance the working conditions of its labour force and address any gap.”

Maids.cc and Al Forsan did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

* Names have been changed to protect the identity of those interviewed.

Revealed: allegations of abuse and captivity without pay at UAE’s lucrative recruitment agencies

Original Article: The Guardian by Katie McQue – 12th October 2023.

Domestic make claims of being locked up without salary until work is found, denied proper food and beaten for leaving abusive employers.

As Nia scrambled to the top of a Dubai compound wall, she paused for a moment. Behind her were a group of fellow Kenyan women, also being held captive, who had helped her climb up. On the other side of the wall there was an expanse of busy streets in an unfamiliar land.

“Jump!” the women urged, “Go, go, go.” And she did.

In 2021, Nia, 27, arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be a domestic worker. Her aim was to make enough money to secure a better future for herself and her family. She believed a job was waiting for her when she landed but, instead, staff from the employment agency Shamma Almahairi Domestic Workers Services Center took her to its compound.

Once there, she claims staff swiftly confiscated her phone and passport, before locking her in a cramped room with more than 12 other women. Nia says she languished there for three months, without a job or salary, until she could tolerate it no longer.

“They told us the agency belongs to the government, and there was nothing we could do,” says Nia, who escaped while the staff were on a lunch break. “I had to run.”

Abuse within the UAE’s kafala system, which ties low-paid migrant workers’ legal status to their employers, has been well-documented. Domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse within their employers’ home, and those who do leave without their employers’ permission face criminal charges for “absconding”, punishable by fines, arrest, detention and deportation. Less well known are the conditions within the recruitment centres where women are kept, sometimes for months, until an employer is found.

The UAE has a population of 10.1 million, with migrants accounting for 90% of its inhabitants. Domestic workers are in high demand, making it a lucrative trade for recruitment agencies.

Domestic worker recruitment agencies require a licence from the government to operate. However, the Guardian has spoken with six women from Kenya and Uganda, including Nia, who alleged that they were abused, denied proper food or medical care, beaten and detained at Shamma Almahairi between 2020 and 2021, while the agency was licensed. Their names have been changed to protect their identities.

“The kafala system means that domestic workers are no longer trapped just by their employer, but also now by recruiters,” says Rothna Begum, a senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This leaves them exposed to further abuse, including trafficking into forced labour, by recruiters in addition to their employers, and their rights under law become meaningless.”

When they arrived in Dubai, the women were shocked by the treatment they were subjected to, which included insufficient food. “We were given one plate to share between about eight people,” says Mariam, 32, from Kampala, who arrived in the UAE in November 2020. “We had to fight over the food. I cried because of that plate.”

Each day, the women say they would be driven from their accommodation to the agency in the Jumeirah area of Dubai. There, they’d be held in a room and brought out if a potential customer wanted to interview them.

The women were apparently powerless in deciding which employer they may want to work for and live with. They also claim the company’s rules meant they would not get any days off, they say, despite the UAE’s regulations stipulating workers should get one day to rest each week. Meanwhile, their families back home were worried about them. This was exacerbated by the fact they weren’t in regular contact because their phones were confiscated.

These matters were put to Shamma Almahairi and did not respond to a request request for comment.

When an Indonesian woman called Christina tried to escape the Shamma Almahairi accommodation in January 2021, she was allegedly subjected to a serious beating, several women interviewed said.

Christina, in her 50s, decided to flee while hanging laundry on the rooftop, by crossing over to the neighbouring building. She was caught. An Egyptian manager of the agency then allegedly administered the beating while the other women were made to watch.

“He was kicking her stomach,” says Catherine, 44. “The lady was crying because she was in pain. Later, he dragged her outside and pushed her inside a car. We were crying, but we couldn’t do anything to help.”

Christina never returned to the accommodation, and the women did not see her again. If women were returned by their employers, they were also beaten.

“They beat you when you go back to the office from the sponsor. It’s normal for them to beat housemaids in front of other staff,” claims Mercy, 27, from Kenya. “They would beat ladies in front of us as a warning.”

The UAE government revoked Shamma Almahairi’s licence to operate in September, due to unpaid fines and other bureaucratic offences. Yet, women are still apparently being held in its accommodation, claims Mercy.

“One of my friends has been there for three months and another has been held there for almost three weeks,” she adds. “I don’t know how I can help them.” Four of the women interviewed are stranded in the UAE and unable to exit the country to return home without paying large fines or possibly serving jail terms because of their irregular visa status, they say.

A spokesperson for the UAE government told the Guardian: “The UAE maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards workplace abuse.

“UAE law also prohibits any form of abuse towards employees who undertake workshops regarding their rights and ways to report abuse.

“We conduct comprehensive investigations whenever individuals and/or entities act in such a manner that contravenes UAE legislation. Those that are found to be at fault are held accountable in line with UAE law and legislation.

“The UAE continues to take active and resolute steps in implementing laws, regulations, and monitoring measures to enhance the working conditions of its labour force and address any gap.”

“One of my friends has been there for three months and another has been held there for almost three weeks,” she adds. “I don’t know how I can help them.” Four of the women interviewed are stranded in the UAE and unable to exit the country to return home without paying large fines or possibly serving jail terms because of their irregular visa status, they say.

A spokesperson for the UAE government told the Guardian: “The UAE maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards workplace abuse.

“UAE law also prohibits any form of abuse towards employees who undertake workshops regarding their rights and ways to report abuse.

“We conduct comprehensive investigations whenever individuals and/or entities act in such a manner that contravenes UAE legislation. Those that are found to be at fault are held accountable in line with UAE law and legislation.

“The UAE continues to take active and resolute steps in implementing laws, regulations, and monitoring measures to enhance the working conditions of its labour force and address any gap.”

‘I tried to leave but they dragged me into the office’

Catherine arrived in Dubai from Kenya in October 2020. Her recruitment agency placed her in five different homes to work. None of the jobs lasted long, and most of her employers were abusive.

In the first house, she was given one meal each day, which was usually two slices of bread and black tea. CCTV cameras made it impossible for her to eat any additional food without her employer’s permission. She was locked in her bedroom at night.

“One day, when I was ironing, she [her employer] came next to me and started spitting on my face,” she says. “I asked her, why are you doing this to me? She shouted and left the room.”

Catherine asked to have a day off on Christmas Day so that she could celebrate with friends. Initially, her employer agreed but then changed her mind on the morning of 25 December.

“She yelled at me and chased me outside. I was shocked, and she followed me, shouting that I should leave. The next thing I knew, she was throwing my belongings outside.”

In one house, Catherine’s employer hit her over the head with a frying pan for cleaning it incorrectly. The same employer made her sleep in a closet and confiscated her phone, she said. She decided to run away, and took a taxi to her recruitment agency’s office. Despite this, staff at the Shamma Almahairi agency punished her for leaving.

“The staff asked me to go back to my employer’s house, and I refused. I tried to take my bag and leave, but they dragged me into the office,” she says. “They were shouting and insulting me and claiming I didn’t want to work.”

* The names of all those interviewed have been changed.

See also: 10th Oct 2023: McDonald’s and Amazon’s ties to alleged labor trafficking: Five key takeaways.

See also: 3rd Feb 2023: London – Foreign diplomats trap and abuse Indonesian and Filipino domestic workers.

See also: 3rd Feb 2023: Voices for fair recruitment grow as Nepal and Malaysia hold labour talks today in Kathmandu.

See also: 9th Oct 2023: Nepal’s migrant workers suffering ‘alarming’ rate of fertility problems.

The post 12th Oct 2023: ‘We lie on the floor till someone buys us’: shocking allegations of UAE agencies’ abuse of domestic workers appeared first on Andy Hall.

The exploitation of migrant workers in Malaysia still continues. The facts are distressingly familiar. Workers in Bangladesh are recruited by manpower companies to work in Malaysia. 

Original Article: Malaysiakini by Joesph Paul on 2nd October 2023.

The workers’ pay the equivalent of between RM 17,000 and RM20,000 each to the recruitment agencies – a huge amount even for local workers. The money is almost invariably borrowed at exorbitant rates of interest. 

The workers are given employment contracts with a Malaysian company. They are promised work permits on arrival in Malaysia. 

Everything looks legitimate and promising. In any case, having paid the recruitment fee, there is no turning back. The debt clock has already started ticking, adding up interest with each passing minute.

They can’t wait to start work. Farewells said, tears are shed with one last lingering embrace and then they leave their homes and loved ones. 

The tears and sadness are softened by the hope of a new and better life for the family, made possible by working in Malaysia.

On arrival, hungry and tired, they are herded like cattle by representatives of the employer or his agent. Their passports are taken away, after which, they are at the mercy of their handlers. 

They are taken to a temporary accommodation, cramped, unsanitary, lacking in basic amenities while their jobs are being sorted out. 

ADS

Days pass, weeks, then months go by but there is no job, little food and often lots of verbal and sometimes physical abuse. 

Hope gives way to uncertainty, then despair, while all the time, night and day, the burden of the mounting debts hangs over their heads. 

Some run away into the unknown, seeking a better life; after all, things could not be worse elsewhere. 

But immediately they fall into the category of PATI (pendatang asing tanpa izin) – illegal immigrants – to be hounded down, detained, imprisoned and legally extorted (euphemistically termed “immigration penalty”) for being in the country without valid documents, in addition to the extra-legal extortions paid if they chance to run into predatory enforcement officers who look upon them as mobile ATMs.

Those who remain “free”, without passport or money, join the pool of cheap labour ready for exploitation, to keep our economy chugging along. 

Meanwhile, back in base camp, their colleagues are shunted from one place to another, given jobs that they had not signed up for, not paid their due wages, more run away to seek a better lot and some commit suicide in despair.

Stories such as the above have been appearing in our media with distressing regularity with little reaction from relevant public officials, MPs or their constituents who put them there. 

When a public response is made, it merely glosses over the problem, restating a policy position (which obviously is not being implemented) and does not address the root causes of the problem.

Such was the response by the human resources minister to comments made by independent labour rights on Sept 21, reported by The Star.

On Oct 1, another story was posted on social media, seeking urgent action to rescue 60 migrant workers currently living in squalid conditions near a jungle in Jerantut, Pahang.

Meanwhile, at the higher echelons of government, battle cries against human trafficking and forced labour continue to grow louder. 

Seminars, symposia, workshops and consultations are held at fancy hotels, with the now almost mandatory presence of a sprinkling of NGOs, to deliberate on the hows and whys of human trafficking and forced labour, speaking in hushed tones of the next Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) from the US State Department. 

Yet basic questions remain unanswered:

• How did the employers who signed the employment contracts obtain quota to recruit workers if the employers had no jobs to offer? Due diligence of the prospective employer is a prerequisite for approval of foreign worker quota. Was the due diligence done? Did anyone override the due diligence report to approve the quotas contrary to the recommendations of the officers who did the due diligence? The answers to these questions should be available in the work records.
• What action has been taken to ensure the employers compensate the workers for their monetary losses and hardship suffered? It is not sufficient to impose a penalty on them and raise revenue for government coffers, without doing justice to the workers.
• Considering that local authorities cannot legally shrug off any responsibility for the distressing situation that the workers are now in, what measures are being taken to provide them with jobs which are commensurate with the wages and working conditions of the jobs for which they had signed up?
• Considering the close working relations between our government and the government of Bangladesh, especially with regard to the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh, would it not be possible to find how the huge recruitment fees paid by the workers (at least five times above the officially approved amount) have been distributed. Do the beneficiaries include people in Malaysia or their proxies elsewhere? 
• What has been the role of the Foreign Workers Centralized Management System (FWCMS) in this dubious recruitment exercise? How much of the recruitment fees paid by each of these workers have gone to the coffers of the company controlling FWCMS?
• What corrective and preventative measures are being put in place to remediate and prevent the recurrence of the same problem?

Until and unless these questions are answered transparently, and appropriate action is taken accordingly, Malaysia will continue to be complicit in human trafficking and forced labour crimes. 

See more: 21st Sep 2023: Malaysian government has 15 source countries for foreign workers – Comments by Andy Hall.

See more: FMT 20th Sep 2023: Rate of abused Bangladeshi workers’ entry into Malaysia worrying, says migrant rights activist Andy Hall.

See more: 18th Sep 2023: Kantipur News – Doubts on the renewal of Nepal-Malaysia zero-cost migrant labour agreement.

The post 2nd Oct 2023: Exploitation of migrant workers continues unabated in Malaysia appeared first on Andy Hall.