A Pradigm Shift for Malaysia's Foreign Worker Policy Possible?

Labour is another factor of production, and any effort to hamper this may lead to unproductive and unfertile economic growth. In Malaysia, labour force make up, at least 45% of the total population and no less than 12 million labour force employed in various sectors. Malaysia is one of the largest hosting countries for foreign workers (FWs) in the region, and their existence in the Malaysian labour market is crucial to boost the Malaysian economy towards developed status by 2020.  

The question arises, does Malaysia’s policy and its implementation effective enough to regulate FWs as to achieve its strategic aims? Or, are FWs unproductive and finally do not fulfill labour’s demands but affect proportionately in the social ill, political tension and crime rates? Policy direction that treats FWs as immigrant population instead of labour, regulate their movement instead of freedom, would not be able to benefit from their potential.  

What’s wrong with Malaysia’s Foreign Worker Policy?

Now, one should argue, what’s wrong with Malaysia’s foreign worker policy? Malaysia has an unbounded and short-term in nature foreign worker policy, with no specific timeframe for its implementation, without number of foreign workers determined for specific year and sector, and finally discourages an effective policy evaluation. Malaysia has double objectives in order to achieve its short-term policy. On the one hand, Malaysia attempts to encourage legal employment among foreign workers and on the other hand, to combat the influx of irregular migrants.

After twenty-year of implementation, traced back at least since 1992, what has been achieved? While the number of legal foreign workers increased from 532,723 (in year 1993) to 1,573,061 (2011), the number of irregular migrants also enlarged to almost 2 million (estimate). This short-term strategy tends to be counterproductive by producing more irregular immigrants than the legal workers. Note that FWs are heterogeneous social class in which their regular status could be ‘irregularized’ deliberately or unintentionally, in multiple ways. Even worse, measures to regulate FWs tend to be detrimental towards their fundamental rights and sparked off critiques by certain quarters. The use of outsourcing companies, higher fees for recruitment, selective and delayed implementation of minimum wages, rotational recruitment system (just to mention a few) may also position FWs at risk of various forms of exploitation as well as economic and social deprivations.

Is Morally Sound and Rights-Based FW’s Policy Possible?

With its limited success, let alone critiques to it - does expectation to benefit from the existing foreign labour force from at least 14 hosting countries still feasible for Malaysia? Or, does Malaysia end up regulating their movement, hosting them in 17 immigration detention centres and undertaking more and more amnesty and repatriation programs that cost millions of tax payers money? It is the right time for Malaysia to review its current FW policy and stepping up to another level of perspective in line with good governance and practices of global migration as well as to adopt existing international instruments set up by international community.

Recommendation forwarded by NGOs and international organizations have been concentrated around the need for Malaysia to ratify a number of treaties and conventions. They are, amongst other,  the UN Convention of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; ILO Conventions including Convention 29 (Forced Labour), 87 (Freedom of Association), 98 (Collective Bargaining), 100 (Equal Remuneration) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

By ratifying such instruments and followed by necessary harmonization into the national legal and institutional settings, Malaysia would not just gain the potential of FWs but  the ability to claim for a moral victory in concomitant with its objectives to be a moderate, progressive and developed nation.

Time for a paradigm shift

Malaysia should change its policy from ‘reactive’ to ‘proactive’. Policy that acts on an ad-hoc basis and responsive on case-by-case basis should be reviewed. The country should have a courageous to lead the region in offering and providing a development-centric and ‘immigrant-based’ (not just immigration) FW’s policy that upholds their basic rights, providing sensible returns and social security as well as spiritual needs. Thereafter, the country would be able to benefit the true potential of the FWs.

Heading to it needs proper attention to a number of gaps in the currently implemented FW’s policy. They are, among the few, as following;

• To allow FWs to bring their family and relatives and regularize their marriage while working in Malaysia. This point is important as to prevent statelessness and status’ irregularity due to illegal marriage.
• To expedite the implementation of minimum wage for the FWs, for all sectors without any irrelevant exclusion.
• To review (abolish, if needed) the strategy of ‘outsourcing’ of FWs and discover more on the government-to-government strategy in the process of recruitment and placement of FWs.

-end-

Andika - IKMAS, UKM, 2013

CLEARING MISCONCEPTIONS: THE TRUTH ABOUT MIGRANTS IN MALAYSIA

Press Statement
9thMay 2012

CLEARING MISCONCEPTIONS:

THE TRUTH ABOUT MIGRANTSIN MALAYSIA

“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights ofall members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peacein the world..”: that is the first sentence of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights. As a member of the United Nations, Malaysia has proclaimed to holdthis Declaration to the highest standards, to protect & promote respect forthese rights and freedoms, and to actively secure effective recognition ofthese rights for all persons. “Inherent, universal, inalienable rights”applies, of course, to migrant workers too. It applies to all 2.6 million migrant workers in Malaysia. This is a basic premisethat we call on the Malaysian government to accept. Should they not, we askthem, as members of the international community, to explain why.

These discussions of fundamental rights and dignity of all persons, all workers, including all migrant workers must be had openly, frankly and publicly in Malaysia.Tenaganita, has consistently and loudly voiced deep concerns over the inherentand critical problems in the system of recruitment and employment of migrantworkers in Malaysia, and of many aspects of Malaysia’s immigration policiesthat are in harsh violation of fundamental rights and that restricts access tojustice. The tragedy is that we have raised these issues (backed by civilsociety and unions, nationally and internationally) for the past 2 decades,without seeing much in the way of the Malaysian government actively makingsignificant changes to the system in order to protect the rights of migrantworkers. The State has unfortunately found it more useful to attack thenews-bearer. Does shooting the messenger change the facts on the ground?

Fact: Approximately one out of three workers inMalaysia is a migrant worker. Labour policies therefore have wide reachingconsequences on the rights of workers in Malaysia where a significant numberof workers are open to exploitation, abuse and violence reflecting modern dayforms of slavery.

Fact: Two countries within ASEAN, Indonesia and Cambodia,have frozen the recruitment and placement of domestic workers from theircountry to Malaysia.

It is understoodthat that is in response to numerous reports of serious rights abuses againstdomestic workers here in Malaysia. The Malaysian government, however, remainsnumb to action, and has not brought about any form of comprehensive legalmechanism to actively protect and promote the rights of domestic workers (whoalso have inalienable rights).  When themajority of countries at the International Labour Organisation (of which Malaysia is a member to) voted in resoundingsupport for the Domestic Workers Convention (known as ILO Convention 189) Malaysiaabstained (despite having over 200, 000 domestic workers currently in thecountry and active plans to recruit more). Is this a reflection of the State’s position that it does not want torecognize nor actively protect the fundamental rights of domestic workers?

Fact: In the latest Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) between Malaysia and Indonesiaon domestic workers, there are escape clauses built in that once more place thedomestic worker in a vulnerable state.

The Malaysiangovernment did agree to a separate bank account for domestic workers, one-dayoff a week, and for passports to be kept with the worker herself. There are,however,  follow up clauses which statethat the one-day off can be converted into “overtime” and passports can be keptfor ”safe keeping” by the employer. It is like the right hand gives and theleft hand takes it away. The rights to rest and to hold one’s passportdisappears. Article 24 of the UDHR states “everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonablelimitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”. Why is there resistance on the part of the Malaysiangovernment to not do everything in its power to ensure that the full enjoymentof those rights for domestic workers as spelled out in Article 24 are protectedand promoted?  

Fact: Four years ago, Tenaganita and the MalaysianBar, along with several other members of civil society, submitted a memorandumto the Malaysian government which consisted of a comprehensive policy on therecruitment, placement and employment of and model contract for migrant workersin Malaysia.

Thecomprehensive policy would be the basic framework for the development of lawsand mechanisms to actively protect and promote the rights of migrant workers inthe country. This open and direct call for this policy was made to the State inrecognition of the widespread and serious human rights violations againstmigrants in Malaysia.Four years later, the Malaysian government has still yet to respond to thiscall from civil society and the Malaysian Bar.

We have insteadseen increased measures to institutionalize practices that have crippled therights and dignity of migrants. One such example is the amendments made to theEmployment Act in December 2011 to also define “outsourcing companies” and“labour contractors” as “employers”. Outsourcing companies and labourcontractors have been key factors in the trafficking of persons for labour in Malaysia,a fact that the State is aware of. The State also pushed through this amendmentin spite of strong protests from Unions and civil society. This is a classiccase of failed governance to address human trafficking and to protect the humanrights of workers.

Fact: In 2011, Tenaganita handled the cases of 453migrants in Malaysia,who were predominantly victims of labour trafficking, including migrantworkers, refugees and domestic workers. The top key violations were: unpaidwages; arrest, detention & deportation; denial of days of rest; overtime wagesnot paid; absence of a contract signed between the employer and the employee.

These forms ofviolations reflect both the abuse of labour rights and the state of ‘forcedlabour’ that these migrants were in while in Malaysia. These forms of violationsare also not random acts by abusive employers. The non-recognition of domesticworkers in the Employment Act, the widespread abuses by outsourcing companies,the non-recognition of the rights of refugees to work, the denial ofundocumented workers to access redress (regardless of how they became undocumented), the sluggish actions by the State toactively prevent human trafficking, abuse, violence - all these realitiesconverge in a hot, bubbling cauldron of human rights abuses that migrants arethrown into.

Dismissing thesecases as ‘isolated incidences’ does not change the reality. A State thatproclaims to respect human rights would understand that these cases warranturgent and immediate actions to address the laws, policies and practices by theState that create an environment for these cases.

Fact: Migrants access to redress and justice isdebilitated under existing legislation and practices by the State where theright to stay and the right to work have been denied.

Firstly, inorder to remain legally in Malaysia, migrant workers are required to have validpassports and work permits. The Immigration Act, however, gives full power tothe “employer” to obtain, renew and cancel the work permit, while punishing themigrant for any violations of the work permit. This is clearly problematic whenmigrants seek to take cases against their employers, as their employers can(and commonly do) react by cancelling the work permit thereby rendering themigrant ‘undocumented’ and subject to arrest, detention, whipping (if they aremale) and deportation.

The ImmigrationAct does have an allowance for workers to apply for a ‘special pass’, at thecost of RM100 per month, and it can only be renewed three times. If the case isnot resolved within these 3 months, the migrant worker must return home.

Tenaganita’sexperience during the past 15 years shows that due process takes more than 6months, sometimes up to 6 years before a case is resolved.  While the case is being investigated andbrought to court for hearings, the worker is not allowed to work.  The policy framework thus denies the worker’sright to stay to get redress and denies the worker’s right to work to supporthim/herself (and pay for the special pass) while the case is in court.  On the other hand, Malaysian workers cancontinue to work while waiting for a resolution to their complaint (as rightlyso).  Such a policy thus not only deniesthe migrant worker due process but it is also discriminatory against migrants.

Furthermore,responses by enforcement departments to migrant cases filed with them are moreoften than not poor. Tenaganita files a police report in all cases thatinvolves the withholding of passports of the workers by employers. This is donebecause the withholding of the passport belonging to someone else is a seriousoffence under the Passport Act and without their passport, the migrant workerfaces threats to their security in the form of arrest, detention, whipping anddeportation. Without their passports, and facing these very real threats,migrants find it extremely difficult to leave their employers and seek justice.In many instances, this puts the migrant in a state of forced labour.  Despite the seriousness of this, the police,however, do not act on these police reports. In some instances, they have toldthe migrants to “file complains in the Small Claims Tribunal”. Thislackadaisical attitude by enforcement officers towards the human security ofmigrants and the acceptance of this criminal act by employers should not betaken lightly by any quarters of the State.

Fact: Domesticworkers defined as domestic servants meanwhile cannot seek redress forviolation of rights except to claim for unpaid wages under the Employment Actsimply because their rights are not recognized in the Act. The First Schedule ofthe Employment Act, under Employee (5) states “ he is engaged as a‘domestic servant’ - provisions section 12, 14, 16, 22, 61 and 64 and Parts IX,XII and XIIA are not applicable”. TheMinister has the powers to withdraw these exclusions and bring about equaltreatment to domestic workers without making reforms to the Employment Act.

Why has theMinister of Human Resources not made the decisions to repeal the clause in theFirst Schedule, even when doing so would keep with the State’s commitments torespect, promote and defend the rights spelled out in the UDHR, the  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination (CEDAW) and especially in General Recommendation 26 of CEDAW?

The abovepolicies and practices by the State therefore increases the risk of humanrights abuses against migrants, inhibits the migrants access to justice andallows employers of migrant workers to act with impunity.

Fact: When the registration into the biometricsystem through the 6P programme ended on August 31, 2011, the Minister of HomeAffairs announced that 2.6 million migrant workers had come forward andregistered.  Out of this figure, half ofthis population (1.3 million workers) were undocumented.

In spite of theoverwhelming response by undocumented workers to legalise their status, whenthe 6P ended on April 10, 2012, the Home Ministry revealed that by February of2012, 94, 856 workers had opted to return home while about 300,000 had appliedfor work permits. Our question is: what has happened to the almost 1 millionundocumented migrants who had registered and wanted to be legalized?  Have the 340 government-approved agentssubmitted the applications or have the workers been cheated? We want answersfrom the Home Minister.

Malaysia as a member of ASEAN, has put thespanner in the works and derailed the development of the action plan on migrantworkers because it has not accepted the term “migrant workers”. The term‘migrant workers’ should not be controversial or disputed; it is globallyrecognized and defined in the UN and ILO Conventions.

This pettyobjection is symptomatic of a larger, more critical problem in Malaysia: therefusal of the State to recognize neither the basic rights of undocumentedworkers nor the rights of families of migrant workers. While these rights aredefined in the UDHR, the Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination AgainstWomen (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), all of whichMalaysiais a party to, it is critical that these rights are explicitly spelled out inregards to migrant workers so as to ensure more effective protection. Malaysiahowever continues to be the stumbling block to the development of an effectiveaction plan for the promotion and protection of rights of mobile populationswithin ASEAN.

The challenge tothis government and the political leadership is to not be arrogant but redeemitself with humility to the feedback from us, from civil society, from unions,from governments of source countries and from international institutions toensure that we, as a nation, reach global standards in the protection ofrights.  We call on the Malaysiangovernment to respond openly to this challenge.

We call on theMalaysian government, as members of the ILO, to begin this positive response bysigning onto (and implementing) the various conventions that ensure decent workand decent wages for all workers, both migrant and Malaysian.

Today, in the 21stcentury, Malaysia has created an underclass of workers called migrant workerswho are open to extreme forms of exploitation that reflects modern day slavery.Will the Malaysian government work with us to stop us from hurtling further inthis direction, and collaboratively create an environment that respects,protects, promotes and defends the rights and dignity of all workers, including migrant workers?

End.


Signed:

Dr. Irene Fernandez
Executive Director
Tenaganita

Notes:
Article in The Jakarta Post: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/05/07/malaysia-not-safe-indonesian-migrant-workers.html

"Tenaganita Executive Director Slammed for Speaking Ill of the Country", The Star (8th May) http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/8/nation/11249852&sec=nation

"Anifah: Fernandez irresponsible", The NST (9th May) http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/anifah-fernandez-irresponsible-1.81964?localLinksEnabled=fale

In the past, migrants (Workers), refugees and asylum seekers were tremendously threatened by the government, politicians, authority, and even public but now its the time for human rights defenders being attacked, intimidated and criticized - by the use of mainstream media, through government agencies and official statement through related ministries.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR DR.IRENE FERNANDEZ, ED TENAGANITA WHOSE TIRELESSLY PROTECTING, AND ADVOCATING THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THESE HIGHLY VULNERABLE, MARGINALIZED COMMUNITY.

See a few related media coverage below:


Tenaganita executive director slammed for speaking ill of country

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/8/nation/11249852&sec=nation

PETALING JAYA: While many Malaysians wait for Indonesian maids to arrive, Tenaganita executive director Irene Fernandez has advised Jakarta not to send workers of any category to this country.

Her statement to the Jakarta Post yesterday that Malaysia is unsafe for foreign workers has come in for all-round condemnation.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan slammed Fernandez's remarks as unethical, inaccurate and unpatriotic while two agencies dealing with foreign labour described them as unfair and a gross generalisation.

Maznah said: “While there may not be specific laws for migrant workers, Malaysia has sufficient laws to protect all workers, including foreign workers.

“If foreign workers have issues or have been mistreated, they can lodge a report with the Labour Department or go straight to their respective embassies or even the police. There are avenues for them to seek redress.”

As a member of the International Labour Organisation, Malaysia was committed to ensuring there was no discrimination against workers in the country, including foreign workers, said Maznah.

Fernandez, in the Jakarta Post interview, was also quoted as saying that there was no legal framework or a particular law to protect foreign workers.

She also claimed that the Government had discriminated against housemaids by excluding them from the recently-announced minimum wage regulation.

Maznah explained that domestic helpers were excluded because they worked in an “informal sector” and their accommodation, food, clothing and other basic needs were taken care of by the employers.

Malaysian Maid Employers Association president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein took Fernandez to task for her “generalisation”, saying:

“A few cases of abuse do not represent the whole attitude of employers, thousands of whom treat their maids well. We have cases of maids getting their degrees or diplomas with the help of their employers.”

He said it was unfair to say that Indonesian workers get a raw deal here, noting that the maid agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia gave domestic help many benefits.

“We have a clear policy. The maid's salary must be paid to the bank and the employer must open an account. The maid holds her passport and she must be given insurance and health coverage.

“This MoU is better than any agreement with other countries. There's even a minimum wage of RM700,” he added.

Association of Foreign Maid Agencies acting president Jeffrey Foo said nobody should make sweeping statements about the lot of foreign workers in Malaysia, where countless people voluntarily make their way to earn a living.

“Reports from the Immigration Department show that we have millions of migrant workers. This shows that people are attracted to come here. It also shows Malaysians are good employers,” he added.

Anifah: Fernandez irresponsible

By YISWAREE PALANSAMY | yiswaree@nst.com.my0 comments

MIGRANTS' RIGHTS: Tenaganita executive director told to get facts right as cops say they want to quiz her

 

TENAGANITA executive director Irene Fernandez has come under fire yet again over her controversial statements pertaining to foreign workers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman has labelled her action as irresponsible.
Anifah took a swipe at Fernandez in a press conference yesterday, chiding her and questioning her motive behind a statement to an Indonesian daily that Malaysia was unsafe for foreign workers.
"She seems to have no sense of responsibility towards her own country and has gone to town claiming that the country is unsafe for foreign workers, which is downright ridiculous," Anifah said.
Fernandez, in a Jakarta Post interview, was quoted as saying that there was no legal framework nor a particular law to protect foreign workers.

She also claimed that the government had discriminated against domestic maids by excluding them from the recently announced minimum wage.

Fernandez was alleged to have advised Jakarta not to send workers of any category here.
Anifah said: "The Indonesian government and the Malaysian government share strong ties and had formulated a bilateral mechanism to ensure the binds that had been forged, especially with regard to the supply of maids, continue without any infringement, or dissatisfaction.

"Fernandez's actions could jeopardise our hard work all these years, especially when we are anticipating the arrival of the first batch of maids soon."

He said that Malaysia was a signatory to the Asean Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers 2007 and was a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and, therefore, viewed the charity and safety of workers seriously.

"If you have a solution to the issue, which you are claiming there is, then rightfully, you should have approached and advised us on the proper manner to handle it."

The minister said that despite her statement, no action would be initiated against her.
On the allegations by Indonesian dailies that three migrant workers, who were shot dead near Port Dickson last month, had their organs harvested before their remains were sent home, Anifah said an autopsy in Indonesia had shown the victims' organs were intact.

Anifah commented on the issue in light of a protest in front of the Malaysian embassy in Indonesia over claims that the trio were killed for their organs.

Meanwhile, police will still call Fernandez for questioning over her controversial press statement.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar lambasted her and said the latter had run out of ideas to bash Malaysia.

"This is not the first time she has made this kind of statement.

"Look around, many foreign workers, who come here, enjoy and love working here.
"This is proof that we don't treat them badly."

Read more: Anifah: Fernandez irresponsible - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/anifah-fernandez-irresponsible-1.81964?localLinksEnabled=false#ixzz1uT3YQ6Ta

Malaysia not safe for Indonesian migrant workers

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/05/07/malaysia-not-safe-indonesian-migrant-workers.html

A-AA+

Malaysia hosts approximately two million migrant workers from Indonesia who work mostly as domestic workers and laborers in the agricultural sector. A large numbers of these workers face problems because they are undocumented. Rights activist Irene Fernandez, the executive director of Tenaganita has been working to provide legal assistance to Indonesian illegal migrant workers. The Jakarta Post’s Ridwan Max Sijabat spoke with her at her office in Kuala Lumpur about their plight.

Question: What is your comment on the recent shooting deaths of three Indonesian migrant workers in Negeri Sembilan?

Answer: The Malaysian police have no authority to shoot them, even if they are criminal suspects. The police should have arrested and brought them to justice if they were caught red-handed committing crimes. Based on the report that we received, the three workers were not criminals or fugitives and they were not caught committing any crimes. The case must be investigated to prove the allegations that they were victims of human trafficking for human organs.

How should the case be investigated?

The investigation should be carried out independently with peer supporters from the two countries and the police must not take part in the investigation because they were involved in the incident. The independent investigation is needed to bring perpetrators to justice, to prove the allegations, to show migrant workers’ vulnerabilities and reveal the rampant corruption and collusion between employers and law enforcers and their impunity.

What do you think of the alleged organ trade?

The results of the forensic examination by the Indonesian police saying that certain organs have been removed from the bodies are preliminary evidence that they may be victims of human trafficking and therefore an independent investigation should be carried out. Labor and child trafficking as well as trade of babies has been rampant in the country over the past three years. In Serawak, women migrant workers who were victims of human trafficking were raped and forced to give birth and many Singaporean people have bought newborns from local syndicates at the price of US$24,000 per baby.

Do you find Malaysia is safe for Indonesian migrant workers?

Completely not.

Why?

Malaysia has no legal framework nor a particular law to protect workers. Even worse, the Malaysian government has upheld discrimination against housemaids and plantation workers, both of whom are excluded from the newly-issued regulation on minimum wages. Migrant workers have been objects of exploitation, physical abuse, violence and rape in line with the emergence of care giving industries and the privatization of health care, which are part of the neo-liberal capitalism which has damaged Malaysia’s economic system and raised inequalities among migrant workers, mostly women.

Malaysian employers who withhold their maids’ passports feel free to do what they want to their workers because they have bought them [maids] and they have their impunity because they have paid the police and bought court verdicts when workers sued against them. Too many migrant workers have become undocumented and developed troubles with authorities since their passports are withheld by their employers or sponsors. The Indonesian government should not resume sending workers to Malaysia until the government and employers change their mind-sets and make a particular law to protect them and their rights.

What do you mean by employers’ impunity?

Many employers have breached the harsh immigration law in employing undocumented workers, but they were not punished because they paid the police and immigration officers in a collusion to lay charges on workers.

In 2011, we recorded more than 1,500 cases befalling undocumented workers and 500 cases on employers’ violations of the immigration law. Most undocumented workers were deported after serving their jail sentence while most employers were cleared of charges.

What is your comment on the Malaysian government’s 6P program?

P is an acronym for Penipuan [cheating] and not for pendaftaran [registration], pemutihan [legalization], pengusiran [deportation], Pemantauan [monitoring], Penguatkuasaan [rehabilitation] and pengampunan [amnesty], because 1,000 of 1,300 workers arrested in the January-April 2012 crackdown have remained undocumented although they have paid between 2,000 and 4,000 Malaysian ringgits. Of the 1,000 workers who remained undocumented and victimized in the 6P program, 400 are Indonesians. We have already filed a legal complaint to the Royal Police against a local businessman who is allegedly involved in the fraud, cheating and trafficking cases in connection with the implementation of the biometric system in implementing the
program.

What do you think of the labor agreement Indonesia and Malaysia revised recently?

Indonesian migrant workers, especially domestic helpers and gardeners, will continue developing troubles with their employers and authorities because the revised agreement does not identify their rights, the labor permit is still held by employers not by the government, the minimum wages are not set for new workers and monthly wages are paid monthly to workers. I appreciate the Indonesian government’s policy not to resume the sending of workers until the bilateral agreement spells out workers’ rights and the recruitment system is revised to put workers and their employers in an equal position.

 

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/ARU/Desktop/The%20Show%20_%20About%20_%20Go%20Back%20To%20Where%20You%20Came%20From%20on%20SBS.htm

Summary:

Six ordinary Australians agree to challenge their preconceived notions about refugees and asylum seekers by embarking on a confronting 25-day journey. Tracing in reverse the journeys that refugees have taken to reach Australia, they travel to some of the most dangerous and desperate corners of the world, with no idea what is in store for them along the way.

Deprived of their wallets, phones and passports, they board a leaky refugee boat, are rescued mid-ocean, experience immigration raids in Malaysia, live in a Kenyan refugee camp and visit slums in Jordan before ultimately making it to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, protected by UN Peacekeepers and the US military. For some of them it’s their first time abroad. For all of them, it’s an epic journey and the most challenging experience of their lives.

NOTE: This is the best ever video produced by SBS in Australia pertaining to refugees.
However, there's no way you can get it here and cannot see from online either. it was barred to be viewed in Malaysia.