29 August 2008
Reference: Eni Lestari, Chairperson(852) 96081475

International migrant group urge Malaysia to investigate cases of runaway foreign maids

An international alliance of grassroots migrant workers today urged the Malaysian government to look deeper into abuses and exploitation as the reasons why foreign maids ran away from their employers and not just simply conclude that they get help from 'syndicates'.

The International Migrants Alliance today issued the statement after the Borneo Post Online reported on Tuesday that there are more than 12,000 foreign domestics, mostly Asians, who escaped from their employers last year through the help of 'syndicates'.

"We are urging the Malaysian government through Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee to fully investigate why more than 12,000 foreign maids from Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Nepal, and Laos escaped from their employers. For us, migrants ran away from employers due to serious reasons such as abuses, exploitation and grave violations of rights," said Eni Lestari, IMA chairperson.

According to Lestari, Asian migrant workers especially domestic helpers commonly suffer from non-payment of their rightful salaries, non-provision of proper rest days, long working hours, physical and sexual violence, and unhealthy and unsanitary accommodation.

"The fact that foreign maids are only receiving a meager salary of RM400 a month, almost half of it will go to her 'human' trader as payment for the recruitment fess, can be enough reason also for a foreign maid to decide to escape from her employer and look for a better paid job," Lestari averred.

IMA said that there have been reports from their members in Malaysia who said agencies for foreign maids there charge an employer RM2,300 in recruitment fess for providing them with an employee. The said amount, stated Lestari, can easily be passed on by the employer to the maid by deducting it from her monthly salary.

"Aside from this, the 'human' agent from the sending country also charge employers with RM2,050. This, again, which will be passed on and will be recouped by the employer through monthly deductions from the maid's salary for five to seven months," Lestari added.

Lestari said that the Malaysian government should immediately act to stop this rampant overcharging of recruitment agencies.

"We urge the Malaysian government not to allow such blatant abuses in the absence of rules that will guard against such unfair labor practice and human exploitation," Lestari added.

Lestari said that issues of domestic helpers and overcharging of recruitment agencies will be some of the major topics that various organizations of migrants around the world will tackle in the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees in Manila on October 28 -30 at the same time as the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).

"These are the issues that the GFMD will never touch for it is there only to systematize labor export and corner remittances of migrants for the benefit of imperialists. The IAMR will be there to highlight the concrete issues of migrants that we shall push for immediate resolution," Lestari concluded.