Policy chaos over migrant workers in Malaysia

THAILAND BUSINESS NEWS

Malaysia has a total of 1.9 million registered migrant workers, constituting approximately 21 per cent of the workforce, making Malaysia the largest importer of labour in Asia.

Despite the large presence of migrant workers in the economy, the policies and laws regulating in-migration are chaotic. Policies built on the concept of a short-term remedy for labour shortage problems have exposed the failure on the part of policymakers to recognise the critical contribution of migrant workers over the longer term. The problem is compounded by the absence of a comprehensive policy on in-migration as an integral part of national strategies for economic growth.

The inflows of migrants in the various economic sectors have generally been governed informally, although the government has signed Memorandums of Understanding with several designated countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Thailand. Following this, the private sector was permitted to set up employment agencies to officially recruit migrant workers from these countries. However, after failing to combat the increasing inflows of illegal migrants, the government, in 1995, put a stop to private sector recruitment agencies and replaced them with a Task Force on Foreign Labour. The frequent pre-1995 sanctions on the importation of migrant workers persisted into the post-1995 period, suggesting that the special Task Force had also failed to stem the employment of illegal workers. The Task Force was then disbanded in 1997, and in 2002, recruitment procedures were subject through G to G agreements.

Apart from the changes in the recruitment process, frequent bans have been imposed to cut back the intake of migrants. These measures are generally short-lived, lasting not more than a year. Retrenchments and deportations of legal workers following any economic downturn have been reversed soon after employers’ problems with labour shortage.

In the course of regulating the use of migrant workers across the various economic sectors, the government has also sought efforts to deter the recruitment and retention of legal migrants by instituting market-based measures, such as the levy system in 1991 (with subsequent upwards revisions made in 1995, 1998 and 2005), the mandatory contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in 1998 and the reduction in the maximum limit of the work permit in 2001. However, these policies backfired as employers switched to hiring illegals and under-reporting migrant wages to reduce their contributions to the EPF. As a result, the levies were lowered in 1999, the mandatory contribution to EPF was revoked in 2001 and the limit of the work permit was revised to five years from three years.

Though the laws of Malaysia do not discriminate against migrant workers, in practice, the rights of migrant workers are not protected: workers suffer from non-payment of wages, wrongful deduction of wages to cover work permits, long working hours, sub-standard living conditions, no insurance coverage, travel documents withheld by employers and unfair dismissal.

There are also provisions in existing labour laws with inherent biases against migrant workers. The Workmen’s Compensation Act (which covers migrant workers) provides benefits that are by far inferior to that as provided by the SOCSO (Social Security Organisation) scheme to local workers. Apart from observed differences in the compensation for migrant vis-à-vis local workers, there is no assurance that the injured migrant worker is compensated for under the Act, as this requires the worker to be adequately insured by the employer.

A recent announcement by the Malaysian government requiring employers to buy health insurance coverage for migrant workers effective this month is positive. Yet, this mandate, though it ostensibly benefits migrant workers, is being implemented mainly because of the high amount of unsettled public hospital bills by employers, totaling RM18 million (US$5.8 million) as at November 2010. To date, the details of the health insurance, apart from the annual premium of RM120, have not been made known to the public.

There are three main policy contexts in which migrant inflows are affected through the ‘price’ (labour cost encompassing wages, non-wages and other intangible benefits) effect.

The provisions outlined in the specified Acts that are applicable to migrants need to be reviewed to ensure equal protection for the former with that of their local counterparts. Of importance are the compensations meted out under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952. The compensation packages, offered to foreigners in the event of workplace injuries, need to be revised upwards as the payment is too low in comparison with the SOCSO plan for local workers. Equal treatment of migrants with that of local workers will tax away any undesirable cost saving gains borne by employers.

The government is also studying a proposal to increase the levy for migrant workers, with differing rates across skills and sectors. The current annual levy system suffers from several shortcomings. In the case of manufacturing, an annual levy of RM1200 and RM960 (based on the latest revision in August 2005) is imposed on migrant workers in Peninsular and East Malaysia respectively. A blanket levy for manufacturing is not feasible given that the dependence on migrant workers varies considerably across industries.

The final policy issue also under consideration is minimum wages. The Malaysian Trade Union Congress has been pressuring the government to introduce a minimum wage of RM900, plus cost of living allowance of RM300, to attract local workers and reduce the dependence on migrant workers. The key challenge is to identify the appropriate rate for minimum wages as the proposed rate matches up to a basic wage of a semi-skilled worker in Malaysia, lest displacement of jobs may post a greater problem as higher wages relative to neighbouring countries attract more migrant inflows. The argument that a minimum wage will reduce the dependency on migrant workers is debatable and can somewhat be counterproductive given that: first, migrant workers may increase instead of decrease unless transaction costs (such as work permits and levies) are increased sufficiently to render them unattractive; second, local workers may still not be willing to undertake 3-D (dirty, difficult and dangerous) jobs, and even if they do, workers’ productivity with minimum wages becomes another concern; third, the problem of non-compliance and abuse by the various stakeholders which has plagued in-migration in Malaysia to date may worsen as unscrupulous employers resort to illegal workers to undercut cost of competitors.

The core problem is a lack of a comprehensive migrant worker policy and weak governance structures. The Malaysian case is a classic case of the failure of decentralisation in the recruitment and placement of migrant workers, in addition to lack of enforcement of existing regulations by various stakeholders.

Evelyn Devadason is Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and Associate Professor at the University of Malaya.

Cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment

thestar online

DIPLOMATICALLY SPEAKING
By DENNIS IGNATIUS

Last month, Amnesty International published a report drawing attention to the fact that judicial caning in Malaysia has reached epidemic proportions. Since 2002, when the Immigration Act was amended to include corporal punishment, nearly 48,000 prisoners have been whipped in Malaysia.

It is a shocking reminder of the cruel, inhuman and degrading way we treat prisoners, particularly refugees and illegal migrants.

Caning or whipping is a horrendous form of punishment. Maximum force, with the cane travelling at speeds of up to 160kph, is applied. The whiplash of the cane (usually a piece of rattan about 1.09m long and 1.25cm thick that is soaked in water) literally takes the skin off the buttocks and then pounds the flesh into pulp. Skin disintegrates. Blood flows copiously.

The pain is so severe that victims often lose consciousness. And when they do, they are quickly revived by doctors so that punishment can continue.

How doctors can participate in this kind of abuse is beyond understanding.

Whipping leaves deep scars that take months to heal. It also leaves deep emotional and psychological wounds that mark the victims for the rest of their lives.

In 2007, a six-minute video of a drug trafficker being caned in Malaysia found its way onto the Internet. Those who think that caning is an acceptable form of punishment should take the trouble to view it.

I personally found it too disturbing to watch. It brought back memories of my late father’s treatment at the hands of the Kempeitai – the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army during the war years. My father was whipped so badly that he carried the scars on his back and buttocks to his grave some fifty years later.

That such horrific abuse is still being visited upon people today is mind-boggling.

And all this despite the fact that there is no evidence that caning is an effective deterrence. It simply panders to our baser instincts to inflict pain upon those who transgress.

Furthermore, such forms of corporal punishment are clearly against the 1948 Universal Declara­tion of Human Rights which states that, “No one shall be subject to torture or to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment”.

Malaysia has always been an ardent supporter of the UN and proudly sits on its Human Rights Council, yet we violate one of its most cherished principles. We lose the moral authority to speak on human rights issues when we ourselves don’t cherish and uphold them.

Some years ago, Malaysians joined the global outrage over the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. America was rightly condemned for behaving in such a cruel and callous manner. What does it now say of us when we are silent about something far worse that is taking place in our prisons on an almost daily basis?

What is even more egregious is that we visit such horrific punishment upon hapless refugees and illegal migrants as well.

Refugees from Myanmar, for example, flee in fear and desperation from well documented abuse, torture and death in their own land only to be further abused in Malaysia.

According to Amnesty International, more than 6,000 refugees are caned, up to 24 times each, every year!

This is morally reprehensible and a great blight upon our nation’s honour.

Of course, we are not the only ones to permit judicial caning. It is widely practised in Singapore and Brunei as well, courtesy of our common British colonial heritage. Caning is now increasingly considered a cheaper alternative to jailing offenders. Illegal migrants are whipped and then deported.

Not surprisingly, many countries seem to ignore this appalling abuse of their own citizens in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. If Australian, British or American citizens were similarly treated, there would be an international uproar, which explains why such punishment is rarely inflicted on them.

Our poorer Asian neighbours, on the other hand, remain silent largely because they fear antagonising us and jeopardising an important source of foreign income in the remittances that these migrant workers send home each month. For countries like the Philippines, Bangladesh and Nepal, for example, such remittances make a significant contribution to their economy.

Perhaps it is also because Asian governments tend to place a lower premium on human dignity.

Whatever the reason, shame on them for staying silent while their citizens are so harshly treated abroad.

Of course, Myanmar’s military rulers are not going to lose any sleep over the treatment of Karen, Kachin or Rohingya people abroad, but surely we become complicit in the injustice wreaked upon these people if they end up being abused and punished in Malaysia as well.

When asked about the leaked caning video in 2007, the Deputy Home Minister at the time said it was “no big deal”.

But it is a big deal when our nation inflicts such horrendous suffering upon prisoners, upon migrant workers and upon refugees. It tarnishes our image and invites international scorn.

And it is a big deal because we are better than that.

It’s time we end this barbaric form of punishment. Certainly, we should immediately stop the caning of refugees and illegal migrants.

Datuk Dennis Ignatius is a 36-year veteran of the Malaysian foreign service. He served in London, Beijing and Washington and was ambassador to Chile and Argentina. He retired as High Commissioner to Canada in July 2008.

Police identified four crime areas in Kuala Lumpur

Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR: City police have identified four areas within Kuala Lumpur as crime hot-spots, based on statistics and reports received from the public.

City police chief Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah said police have begun conducting special operations in Selayang in cooperation with several other enforcement agencies like the Immigration Department and anti-narcotics team to clean up these crime hotspots so residents would feel more secure about their environment.

Raids conducted from Jan 1 near the Selayang wholesale market have so far resulted in 402 detained for offences, such as drug possession and having invalid travel documents.

Zulkifli said similar operations have been planned for Wangsa Maju, Sentul and Cheras. He assured the raids would continue until the crime rate in target areas dropped.

In all, 402 people were detained in the special operations at the Selayang wet market.

They comprised 349 males and 53 women, the majority of them being Myanmar nationals.

They included 70 suspected drug pushers.

The others were held for failure to produce travel documents and possession of invalid travel documents.

Selayang drug mart

KUALA LUMPUR: Selayang's status as a crime hotspot had been exposed by The Malay Mail, following an incident where a Myanmar national drug pusher at the wet market was shot by police on Dec 6.

The Paper That Cares exposed the criminal activities at the wet market at Selayang where our probe revealed drug activities to be at "alarming levels".

Residents around the market area, and workers and customers we spoke to shared the same concern and agreed criminal activity in the area was serious.

In our Dec 7 frontpage report, Kuala Lumpur Narcotics Crime Investigation Department chief ACP Kang Chez Chiang had said immigrants used the market and empty shoplots there as a haunt for drug activities.

Kang had said the Selayang wet market had become a druginfested area with the growing population of immigrants from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Indonesia, causing uneasiness among the residents.

From January to October last year, 926 people of various nationalities, including Malaysians, were found involved in drug activities there.

The majority of the suspects were drug addicts.

The foreign drug syndicates were usually small groups comprising their respective communities, mainly Myanmar and Achenese from Indonesia.

Each group was headed by a pusher who received his supply from a bigger player elsewhere, who could either be a local or the immigrant's fellow countryman.

The popular drugs at the wet market in Selayang were heroin and ganja, followed by ketamine.

They were sold between RM100 and RM350 for a small packet.

Kang had said police were keeping the Selayang wet market under constant watch with the help of the Immigration Department and the People's Volunteer Corps (Rela), and checks on illegal immigrants were being conducted from time to time.



Burmese prisoners forced to walk on minefields

Vancouversun

Prison inmates sent to front-line fighting between the Burmese army and a rebel faction have been used by the regime's armed forces as human mine sweepers.

Some of the 600 prisoners sent to the border with Thailand suffered serious injuries after they were forced walk ahead of troops across minefields.

One rights group said it amounted to a "crime against humanity". The human mine sweepers had originally been forced into military service and used as porters carrying ammunition, according to three prisoners who escaped and made it to the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

The abuse of the prisoners led to outrage and shock even though Burma's armed forces regularly torture opponents, raze rebel villages and use rape as a weapon of war. "This shouldn't happen in any situation," Bo Kyi, of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, told The Irrawaddy magazine.

"They are, in effect, executing prisoners by other means. It would definitely constitute a crime against humanity."

The three escapers were among 30 inmates from Pakokku Jail sent to a Burmese army camp in the province bordering Mae Sot in December.

Myanmar to introduce mandatory military service

Shwedarling news

Myanmar's military government will introduce a draft for men and women aged 18 and older.

NHK has obtained official documents issued by Myanmar's military government. The documents show that legislation for mandatory military service was enacted on December 17th.

Men aged between 18 and 45, and women aged between 18 and 35 will be drafted into the army for two to three years.

The government requires all people of eligible age, except the physically challenged, to register with local authorities.

Those who fail to register or try to evade the draft face imprisonment of up to five years.

Following last November's general election, the country's first in 20 years, a new parliament is expected to convene as early as the end of January, and establish, in appearance, a civil government.

Analysts say the move indicates the military government's effort to maintain its influence by familiarizing people with the military.

The last-minute decision to introduce the draft system before the new government's inauguration is likely to stir protests from the public.

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:28:00 +0900(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)

Karenni man frees Thai hostage at UN Mae Sot refugee office

mcot news

MAE SOT, Jan 4 - A Karenni man on Monday held a Thai man hostage outside the office of the United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Thai-Myanmar border town of Mae Sot. The hostage-taker demanded ‘real democracy’ in Myanmar, but later freed the hostage after hour-long negotiations.
The 36-year-old Karenni man, who said he was a soldier of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) carrying a hand grenade in each hand, held 53-year-old motorcycle taxi driver Roj Laowan as hostage Tuesday morning.
Mr Roj said that he was hired by the hostage taker to go to the UN office before his passenger used hand grenades to take him as hostage.
Mae Sot district chief Kittisak Tomornsak and police negotiated with the DKBA soldier, later identified as Saw Tami, for an hour until he agreed to free the Thai hostage and handed in the grenades to the Thai authorities.
The Thai hostage told police that he was hired by his Karenni client to drive him to the UNHCR office but later was held hostage.
Upon surrender, he submitted a complaint letter saying that the DKBA forces will not be submissive to the Myanmar troops and become Border Guard Force (BGF) for the Myanmar government.
He said that several ethnic groups did not accept the result of the general election held on Nov 7, 2010 as it was not fair and transparent.
The letter also stated that the Nov 7 election cannot solve the problems in the military-ruled country while urging the UN to help establish true democracy in Myanmar.
It was reported that Saw Tami was initially charged with illegal entry to the Thai kingdom and possession of military weaponry.
The Tuesday hostage incident occurred two months after clashes between the Myanmar armed forces and a splinter faction of the DKBA erupted at the Myanmar border town of Myawaddy just one day after its first election in 20 years, forcing a large number of Karen people fleeing the fighting to cross the border into Thailand. (MCOT online news)

Prostitution is forbidden in Malaysia...

allvoices.com

Everyone maybe enjoy seeing women who demonstrate a sexy body. Without shame they act - just to get customers. To provide sexual services and get paid fairly.
Without the capital to trade. Assets only - look beautiful, young and able to give sexual satisfaction to the customer. Although Malaysia is well known as an Islamic country but still prostitution cases were reported.
Continued enforcement. Prostitutes were arrested for prosecution in court. Although the government has not issued licenses brothels, but this activity is growing like 'mushrooms after rain'. Persistently whether successful or otherwise detained by the authorities remain free to do everything. Only do business in order to provide sexual favors to those who are 'hungry' minx services.
Yesterday, the authorities successfully raided a brothel premises which puts young women in a big 'aquarium' for viewing customers. This tactic was first discovered in Seremban and it is commonly done in southern Thailand involving the prostitution industry that offered to the visitors.
In a raid on a shop in Park Avenue, Kuchai Lama here, a total of nine Chinese citizens arrested when they demonstrating themselves.
In addition to the high investment to modify the character of modern living and luxury, the owner of the premises also provide a business card that displays the sexy image to promote.
Police investigation found, the selection of a prostitute known as Grade A China Doll is neatly done by selecting only look beautiful and has a voluptuous body.
The new 10-day activity is believed to offer sexual services to operate the usual RM160 to RM180 per hour while a special package to the bathroom together.
According to the Division Operations Officer of Secret Societies, Gambling, and Disobedience (D7) Bukit Aman, Inspector Zurita Ahmad, activities successfully sniffed his premises before the raid at 4:30 this afternoon.
She said, the nine Chinese citizens women aged withthin 19 to 28 years and five men believed to be working at that premise was arrested.
"All those who are found abusing their social visit pass is believed to work as masseurs and prostitutes at the premises. Seven Chinese citizens have a social visit pass is valid while two more have expired," she said to reporters yesterday.
She said, initial inspections revealed that four of the men are locals and the other citizens of Bangladesh and they believed to have a fake identification card.
"Police found thousands of condoms are not used in that premise that do not have a business license. The premise was set up four common rooms and eight rooms are equipped with bathroom believed for sexual services to the special package,"she said.
Zurita said, prostitution is also promoted through the popular Internet social networking site to find clients.
In Malaysia, it is difficult to subscribe to a prostitute because it is an offense set forth in country law.

MAKE UNITY, TRUTH AND JUSTICE AS NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS FOR MALAYSIANS

phangstraighttalk

Tan Sri Robert Phang Miow Sin
Chairman   -   Social Care Foundation
Panel Advisor Of Malaysia Anti - Corruption Commission (MACC)

On Friday Dec 31, 2010, we will say goodbye to 2010 and usher in 2011. Fortune tellers, astrologers and Feng Shui practitioners will review the events of past years in self glorification of the accuracy of their predictions. They will attempt to provide new prophecies and guidance to forecast events and good fortunes for the coming year. But, they do it for commercial gains.

As a social activist, I would like to address the fundamentals that are of importance to us as a progressive nation. Malaysia is a country of faiths. It is stated that Islam is the official Religion of the Federation but at the same time, freedom to practice other faiths and religions is guaranteed. How we prosper as a nation cannot be based on fortune telling and guessing games but on hard facts, sound policies and universal principles to be gathered from our faiths and religions.

Whether we are Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists or of any other faiths, the plurality of faiths of this country must be preserved. I call on IKIM and Perkasa not to cause confusion by fanning the differences between us, but to build on the commonality that binds us. It’s a folly to claim whose religion or whose god is the right one. All religions teach good things and we all believe in ONE TRUE GOD.

Thus, all talk that cause differences, tensions and schisms must stop. If May 13, 1969, is to be remembered, it should be commemorated as a day of mourning when this multi-cultural and multi-religious beloved country of ours was almost ruined. Thus, it must be our national resolution that May 13^th must not recur or Malaysia will become a failed nation. It is our commonality that binds us as a nation since Independence and that will shape our future destiny as 1Malaysian!

With regard to the New Key Result Areas (NKRAs) for reduction of crimes, I congratulate Home Minister Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein Onn, who has worked hard and developed innovative ways to assist the PDRM in the fight against crime. I also congratulate Dato’ Seri Hishammudin for understanding the importance of public perception and thus ended the former IGP’s tenure. Compared to his predecessor, Tan Sri Ismail Omar is a breath of fresh air. Like a clean white sheet, it is now in his hands to re-shape PDRM into the principal respected law enforcement agency that it once was. We, Malaysians, must support Tan Sri Ismail Omar, the current IGP, to aspire for a crime free society.

As a Panel Advisor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), I applaud the achievements of the MACC’s Chief Commissioner, Dato‘ Seri Abu Kassim, in bringing to book some big names this year. In the PKFZ case, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik has been charged. However, the report by the forensic auditors mentioned several other big names, including those still serving in government and are also big names in their political party. These big names have quickly used the MACC’s clearance as a political mileage. This has invited public skepticism, especially when it is perceived that a thorough investigation has not been conducted and the clearance was just a political whitewash. That was what the public perceived in the case of former Selangor MB Dato‘ Seri Dr Khir Toyo until he was charged recently. I remind these big names not to be so gleeful, bordering on arrogance.

The public also view with grave suspicion the allegations over the personal conduct of Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Gani Patail who is seen as consorting with Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli’s proxy, Shahidan Shafiee. This is of great disservice to the government in the fight against corruption. I have raised this before and the A-G‘s continued silence is defeaning. PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayob has now raised the same issue. This is not just a political issue but it also concerns the integrity of the highest law officer of the country. His actions and conduct can erode the credibility of the government.

There is also public scepticism over the conduct of the A-G, in the exercise of his prosecutorial powers. His reluctance to act in certain cases, while very vociferous in others, have given rise to allegations of selective prosecution bordering on persecution. YB Salahudin Ayob also raised this seeming double standards involving the case of lawyer En Rosli Dahlan. En Rosli is widely known to be the lawyer handling the MAS case and has alleged that he had been victimised by rogue elements in the government. It is frightening to the citizens at large that the whole machinery of the A-G’s office and the MACC can be used against one man. The government must dispel this perception of persecution against an innocent citizen.

I have raised these matters without any personal or political agenda. I am not a politician. I speak for what I believe to be true and right. These are matters that have been in the public domain and it is incumbent on me to remind the powers that be of the public displeasure. Only in this way civil activists like me can be of service to the nation, the government and the public. This is consistent with the reminder by the Prime Minister Dato‘ Seri Najib Tun Razak that those in power must not suffer from the four diseases – Delusion, Amnesia, Inertia and Arrogance. I pray that all Civil Servants, Politicians more so the YBs and Ministers, will follow rigidly to our YB PM’s directive.

In closing 2010’s chapter and in welcoming 2011, I pray for God’s Blessings upon all of us and that we become a truly 1Malaysia nation in the pursuit for Unity, Truth and Justice.

I wish all Malaysians A Happy & Blessed New Year 2011 !!

“HUMBLENESS IS GOOD VIRTUE, ARROGANCE SHALL FALL, THE MEEK WILL RULE THE WORLD”.