Malaysia

Migrant workers have played a central part in the economic success story of many South-East Asian countries in recent years. As these countries have embraced the ‘outwards turn’ of export orientation, migrant workers have provided a regular source of cheap labour that has allowed their manufacturing industries to compete successfully on world markets. 

L’absence de contrôle exercé par les gouvernements cambodgien et malaisien sur les recruteurs et les employeurs laisse les travailleuses domestiques migrantes cambodgiennes exposées à toutes sortes d’abus, a déclaré Human Rights Watch dans un rapport publié aujourd’hui. Des dizaines de milliers de femmes et de filles cambodgiennes qui émigrent en Malaisie sont peu protégées contre le confinement forcé dans des centres de formation, des endettements lourds et des conditions de travail relevant de l’exploitation.

The government’s amnesty programme for undocumented foreign workers will fail if it does not address the root causes of problems associated with foreign labour, according to activists. Irene Fernandez, who heads the human rights group Tenaganita, said the system of recruitment and placement of migrant workers was full of problems and the government did not know how to tackle them. “The system is riddled with rapid approvals without verification and irresponsible recruitment agents and employers,” she told reporters at the Tenaganita office here.

MALAYSIA will grant amnesty to as many as 2 million illegal migrants in the country, allowing them to work and live freely under a scheme to be rolled out next month.

Malaysia's new resolve to ''do the right thing'' by illegal immigrants also underpins its negotiations with Australia on the refugee swap deal and partly explains why the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is supportive of the concept.