Unregistered syndicates have allegedly exploited migrant workers and employers who sought low fee domestic helps
A foreign domestic help is seen at her workplace in Malaysia. (Photo: AFP)
A leading rights group has urged the Malaysian government to introduce stringent laws to tackle human trafficking as reports suggest many workers were sold off to Malaysians who resorted to unregistered agents for low-paid maids.
While the workers were exploited, the citizens who relied on those undocumented private agencies to avoid ‘sky high’ fees for hiring maids have been cheated and lost huge amounts down a ‘maid sinkhole,’ Bernama news agency reported.
Hiring a maid can cost up to 15,000-18,000 ringgit (US$ 3,277-3933), while agencies offered maids for 7,000 ringgit ($ 1,529), leaving the recruiters with no choice but to rely on those shadowy syndicates.
Hishamuddin Hashim, secretary general of Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) stated that the exorbitant hiring charges for maids have opened new avenues for human trafficking through “maid selling activities.”
“They (unauthorized agents) would make a profit-sharing pact with these maids to cheat employers who are desperate for domestic help. Usually, the cost charged by these unregistered private agencies is around RM 7,000 (US $1,529),” Hashim was quoted as saying by Bernama.
He pointed out that many maids have fled from their employers causing financial losses for them.
Having domestic help has become essential for Malaysian families with working parents, and ‘maid scam operators’ exploited their dire need, Hashim said.
He noted that unregulated agencies have exploited loopholes in the government system that fails to blacklist workers and agencies for scams and urged that a tracking system should be put in place to tackle the issue of “runaway workers.”
Hashim also said that thanks to tricky methods adopted by shady requiting agencies, many foreign migrant workers are brought into Malaysia with domestic help visas, but they flee their employers within three-four months.
A government official said an increase in demand for maids after Malaysia reopened the job market after the pandemic, triggered new channels for human trafficking.
“The short supply of maids gave a window of opportunity for irresponsible individuals to offer maid services which did not go through the proper recruitment procedures,” said DSP Alif Charles Belon, Commander of Task Force, the National Strategic Office (NSO), the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (MAPO), Bernama reported.
The official also stated that many of the laborers who fall into the trap of such human traffickers face sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, practices similar to slavery, or the removal of organs.
Statistics from MAPO show a total of 252 cases of forced work exploitation from 2019 to June 2022.
Belon stated that 346 cases of sexual exploitation were reported during the same period.
One of the reasons for the laborers to undergo such atrocities was the employers illegally holding on to their workers’ passports and denying medical leaves, he pointed out.
Belon said that the initiatives under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 of Malaysia will help improve the ranking of Malaysia in the US Trafficking of Persons (TIP) Index.
US State Department downgraded Malaysia from Tier 2 to Tier 3 in the latest TIP Index.
Australia-based anti-slavery group, Walk Free Foundation, reported in 2018 that Malaysia had an estimated 212,000 people trapped in modern-day slavery. It ranked Malaysia 42 out of a total of 167 countries in the latest Global Slavery Index.
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