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MALAYSIA: Labor Reform

Malaysia is moving to eliminate middlemen who charge millions of foreign workers exorbitant recruitment fees, leaving them saddled with debt and vulnerable to exploitation.

From factories to construction sites and plantations, the Southeast Asian nation relies heavily on foreign workers for jobs usually shunned by locals.

Many arrive having borrowed huge sums to pay recruitment agents, meaning they have to work for years earning virtually nothing — a form of modern-day slavery known as debt bondage.

To address this, Malaysia struck a deal with Nepal to directly recruit workers there without going through agents. The agreement came after Nepal temporarily suspended sending workers due to concerns about their treatment.

“This is aimed at curbing human trafficking and exploitation of workers,” said Malaysian Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran.

“They must not be in a bondage situation in this country and caught in a vicious cycle of earning to pay back money.”

Under the agreement, which went into effect in late October 2018, Nepali workers will be hired on a government-to-government basis. Malaysian employers will have to bear all the recruitment costs, including airfare, and visa and medical checkup fees.

Kulasegaran said Malaysia is negotiating similar agreements with Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal are the top providers of Malaysia’s nearly 2 million registered migrant workers, government figures show. There are millions more without work permits.

The world’s largest glove maker, the Malaysian firm Top Glove, said in December 2018 that it would cut ties with unethical recruitment agents, after some of its migrant workers were found to have clocked excessive overtime to clear debts.

For years campaigners have asked Malaysia to eliminate the middlemen who charge migrants up to 20,000 Malaysian ringgit (U.S. $4,790), a debt they often toil for years to pay off.

Debt bondage is one of the most prevalent forms of modern slavery, which affects more than 40 million people worldwide, according to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization.  Reuters

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