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Migrant Workers in Malaysia

Police inaction creates dire environment

Says Irene Fernandez

Staff Correspondent
Police inaction is creating an environment where manpower recruiting agents are allowed to cheat, harm and threaten migrant workers with impunity in Malaysia, human rights activist Irene Fernandez said.
“The migrants, who are left without passports and work permits, become highly vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitation not to mention being arrested, detained or whipped under the Immigration Act,” said Irene, executive director of Tenaganita, a Kuala Lumpur based rights body, in a press statement.
The statement was issued on August 13 in reference to a case filed by Tenaganita last May against Kuala Lumpur based Akhwan Group of Companies and its Bangladeshi CEO Sirajul Amin on charge of fraud, physical threats and withholding passports of an estimated 5,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers.
The company allegedly collected workers' passports and realised Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) 2,500-4,000 from each of the workers after assuring them of arranging work permits under Malaysia's amnesty programme.
However, the company failed to arrange the permits.
Aside from theTenaganita case, the migrant workers directly filed nine cases.
“To date, there has been little to no progress in the police investigations and the migrants
who filed the cases have yet to obtain their passports and work permits which are being held by Akhwan Group," Irene said.
On August 3, Tenaganita learned of another incident.
Bangladeshi national Abdul Alim Mizi, who had paid MYR 3,850 to Akhwan Group last August for a work permit, went to the company's office along with his friend Mahbub Mollik to enquire about Mizi's work permit.
Irene said Sirajul threatened to physically harm the duo. He took away Mollik's passport, a gold ring, $1,850 and MYR 1,040, after punching Mollik.
The duo filed a case afterwards.
After the case was filed, police visited Sirajul Amin's office once and left after finding it locked. On August 13, police informed Tenaganita that no further action has been taken.
Expressing concern over police inaction, Irene said, "This is a ripe situation for corruption, where migrants may be forced to pay enforcement officials to prevent arrests or agents who demand more money to obtain work permits that they should have produced in the first place.”
Malaysia recently moved to hire Bangladeshi workers again after freezing recruitment in 2009. There are currently 4 lakh Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia.