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United States government has blacklisted Malaysia in the list of human trafficking offenders. Such blacklisting means Malaysia could face sanctions, including the withholding by the United States of non-humanitarian, non-trade related foreign aid. 

It is a very big blow to the creditability of PM Abdullah Badawi administration after Transparency International Malaysia issued the early warning that migrant workers recruitment and placement industry as the second most corrupted industry.

 

Before that, the New York Based UN Human Right Watch had also earlier given the warning to Malaysia on the matter. During the  February, 2007  UN High Level Dialogue, Malaysia also  came into the lime lights of Human trading and trafficking issues.

 

Malaysia again became the center of focus on March 15, 2007, UN Human Right Council meetings in Geneva for its exploitative and inhumane migrant policies with regards to the Bilateral MoU and Mafia type of uniform unit, RELA which were given excessive power to conduct raids as bounty hunters.

 

The most disgusting implication of such reports is the ignorance of the Malaysia ministers and SUHAKAM commissioners who have very minimum understanding of Human Trafficking in person issues.

 

What they can see is just the prostitution and sales of children for the profit within the criminalized frame work rather than the entire migrant worker policies that aimed to exploit the marginalized migrant workers from neighboring Islamic nations.

 

The typical Malaysian politicians’ who protested about the US State Department reports has not done their home work nor has any in depth understanding of trafficking in person.

 

These political animals in the parliament had failed to look beyond the problems of mail order brides, bonded slave labor, and illicit exploitation of trafficked labors in the Malaysia sub-contracting in plantation, construction and manufacturing establishment.

 

There are also very little understanding of the terminology used in the human trafficking in persons, such as the applications of the Immigration laws against the trafficking in persons migration.

 

The rubber stamping MP also failed to recognized the problems of Refugees issues linked to human trafficking laws. It took less than 5 hours in total to have this law passed by the lower house before sending up to Upper house for rubber stamping endorsement.

 

 

It is an open secret that the top brass of Malaysia Home Ministry has been the shrewdest and corrupted manipulators of the Malaysia foreign labor policies which aims to collaborate with the human traders to exploits the poor and marginalized communities from the poor Islamic nations; namely Indonesia and Bangladesh.

 

Since August 1, 1998, the very first Malaysia-Indonesia Bilateral MoUhas avery focus agenda of outlining the protection scheme to cover the interest of the recruitment and placement agents in Indonesia (PJTKI) and Malaysia foreign workers placement agent (Agency Pekerja Asing Indonesia).

 

The MoU for the foreign maids still remain most exploitative, where salary deduction, long working hours, passport withheld by employers and multiple house holds chaos in addition to the non direct salary payment to the maids accounts. Only the interests of the agents and employers are the priorities of the MoU essences.

 

In 2006, Tan Sri Aseh Che Mat has issue the directive to support the Labor Outsourcing Agencies to create the bonded force labors under the full controlled of agents (Slave masters).

 

Under this directive, 243 licences were issued, and more than 40,000 bonded labors were recruited from Indonesia and Bangladesh to supply to the Employers in the Small and Medium Industries that need less than 50 foreign workers.

 

Nevertheless, we should give credit to Prime Minister for passing Anti-Human trafficking law in the Malaysia parliament.

 

It will take more than lip services from PM Abdullah in its Islamic humanity deliverance efforts because the legislative endorsement needed to be supported by the good governance infracstructure and political will to enforce them. We recommend to Abdullah Badawi Administration:

 

1.      Immediately implement the anti human trafficking public relation programs to educate the MP on the seriousness of human trafficking issues in Malaysia.

2. Recognizing the underpinning Home ministry’s manipulations of migrant workers recruitment systems that liken human trading and trafficking by immediately abolish the migrant workers recruitment and placement agencies system by replacing it with the Government to Government arrangement.

2. Covert the existing foreign workers agencies into training centers that focus on human talent development; making the skill certification and mental fitness requirement for all the migrant workers before they are allowed to enter Malaysia.

3. Introducing the clearly defined Migrant  Workers Law that regulate more transparent agency fees structure to be passed by Malaysia Parliament

4.      Abolish the manpower outsourcing agencies which exploits
the workers by making them work more than 16 hours a day in more than one
location without overtime payment.

5.      Imposing annual fit and proper evaluation test by independent body
on the Malaysian and Foreign migrant workers agencies before the license renewal.

6.      Introducing laws with mandatory maximum jail terms in addition to maximum fine for agency directors, CEO of the companies that employed trafficked persons, and their indirect involvement in promoting human trafficking activities and falsification of Migrant workers’ travel documents.

Jakarta, June 18, 2007

Wahyu Susilo               Anis Hidayah                    Alex Ong

Policy Analyst                Executive Director            Country Director

Alex Ong
Migrant CARE
Perhimpunan Indonesia untuk Buruh Migran Berdaulat
(Member of Migrant Forum in Asia and International NGO
Platform on Migrant Workers’ Convention)

Jl. Pulo Asem I C No 15 RT 015 RW 001 Jati,
Jakarta Timur 13220 Indonesia
Telp/Fax: +62 21 4752803
E-mail: alexmigrantcare@gmail.com
migrantcare@nusa.or.id
Website: www.buruhmigranberdaulat.blogspot.com