Letter to the Editor-Freeze of Cambodia Domestic Workers to Malaysia

Malaysia Maid Freeze an Opportunity to Improve Conditions

The Cambodia Daily
August 15, 2011
By Mu Sochua

I am writing in response to your article Stop Sending Domestic Workers to Malaysia, Says Mu Sochua (page 12, August 13-14).

According to the Cambodian government, there could be up to 50,000 domestic workers currently in Malaysia. In 2011 alone, 30,000 domestic workers were sent to this destination. These are official records that cannot be fabricated.

In late July of this year, Cambodian officials were sent to Penang to investigate the death of a 19-year-old domestic worker, following a trip from a concerned Malaysian citizen. In April of this year, a domestic worker put out desperate calls to her elderly mother complaining of rape by a relative of her employer. Cambodian and Malaysian NGOs have facilitated numerous cases of repatriation of domestic workers from Malaysia due to abuse. International and local media continue to report cases of abuse of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia. These are facts that cannot be fabricated.

The testimonies of Cambodian domestic workers rescued and sheltered by women organizations in Malaysia describe cruel treatment by their employers that go far beyond physical scars. Prolonged physical abuse leads to mental and psychological trauma in some cases.

We are talking about hundreds and thousands of children and young women from rural Cambodiaa population most at risk, working behind closed doors as unskilled labor with close to no formal education.

As concerned citizens and lawmakers with responsibility, we must take action to find solutions that guarantee the full protection, safety and dignity of our women and children who are sent abroad as domestic workers. These guarantees are stipulated in the ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work adopted this year, for domestic workers.

In view of the increasing number of reported cases of abuse and in particular in the recent death that occurred in Penang, calling for a freeze of Cambodian domestic workers to Malaysia is justified and timely. This is a million-dollar industry that deals with the labor, the sweat and the lives of our women and children. A freeze is a temporary measure to allow concerned governments to review mechanisms for the full implementation of legislation and to demonstrate their commitment to human rights and to decent work for domestic workers.

In 2009, Indonesia called for a freeze on its nationals working in Malaysia after a series of high-profile abuse cases. This year, Malaysia and Indonesia have revised their agreements to provide better benefits for Indonesian domestic workers sent to Malaysia, including a weekly day off and the workers right to keep their passports, a very important legal document for verification of their identity and for self-protection.

Cambodia has much to gain by calling for a freeze of domestic workers to Malaysia. It is high time for our government to put in order the registration and monitoring mechanisms of employment agencies, to invest in the training of officials from the Ministry of Labor and to provide better means to embassy officials to address the needs of our 50,000 domestic workers in Malaysia. These much needed efforts will be valuable investments as it will lead to the protection of our women who are desperate for decent employment and decent pay.

Sending our abused workers back to Cambodia is not the end of the story as prosecution of employment agencies and employers who have violated the rights of the workers must be strictly enforced. Like any criminal cases, the victims are entitled to financial compensation and for justice to be fully served, violators must face penalties stipulated in the laws.

The call for a freeze of Cambodian domestic workers to Malaysia is a call for justice. It is a demonstration of our commitment to the prevention against abuse and for the protection of violation of human rights.

Mu Sochua

Member of Parliament,

Sam Rainsy Party

http://sochua.wordpress.com

"I do not fear death; I fear political silence against injustices"

-Malalai Joya, MP Afghanistan

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