DPA
Kuala Lumpur - Cambodia's prime minister has indicated he will halt a domestic labour exchange programme with Malaysia on human rights concerns, a Cambodian politician told dpa on Saturday.
Prime Minister Hun Sen is to instruct the Ministry of Labour to halt domestic labour departures to Malaysia in light of increasing reports of domestic worker abuse in that country, opposition party member Son Chay said.
Of an estimated 320,000 domestic workers residing in Malaysia, 15 per cent hail from Cambodia.
Cambodia's move could exacerbate Malaysia's on-going labour shortage, as the decision comes on the heels of a similar domestic labour ban instituted by Indonesia two years ago.
The issue has been on Cambodia's domestic political radar, after two incidents - an underage Cambodian found dead outside her employer's house in northern Penang state, and another woman's rescue from her abusive employer - made headlines.
Malaysian maid placement agencies expressed disappointment at the announcement. A senior administrator from a maid recruitment agency in central Selangor state told dpa that the ruling was 'bad news' for Malaysians.
'We've not been warned or even notified of this. We're hearing it only from the news,' said Irene Lim, who expressed shock over the move and emphasized that her agency 'looks out for the welfare of its maids.'
The Malaysian Maid Employers Association issued a statement calling Cambodia's decision 'very harsh and drastic.'
'The majority of employers take care of their maids very well,' the association's president, Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein, said.
Rights groups have long complained that foreign maids in Malaysia lack protection under labour laws. Hundreds of maids working in the country lodge complaints against their employers, ranging from physical abuse to nonpayment of salaries.
Human rights groups applauded Cambodia's ban. 'The Malaysian government has shut its eyes to human rights abuses,' said Irene Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, a group championing migrant workers' rights.
But Fernandez said Malaysia could continue its pattern of seeking maids from more vulnerable and poverty stricken countries.
She said Tenaganita has rescued 41 Cambodian maids this year. The group's data show that more than half of the girls were physically abused: 25 per cent of them sexually and another 25 per cent through malnutrition.
2 comments:
I think it is a good move by the Cambodia government to ban this kind of labor exportation. While there are cases of murders and rapes, the Malaysians still think that the decision by PM Hun Sen is harsh and drastic, but they do not care about the human life.
Malaysia is not so much better than Cambodia. Govt should not take khmer woman risk. it seems to be destroy our culture and lack of protect from Malaysia govt. Malaysia has to take strong action to protect khmer workers. Govt dont ignore that workers are sex for fucking Malaysia.
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