Malaysia is home to around 500,000 Burmese migrants, less than half of whom have been registered and thus hold a semblance of legal status in the country. Employers of migrant workers are often accused of exploiting their fragile existence in the country for their own gain, paying meagre wages and meting out abuse in the workplace. Tun Tun heads the Burma Campaign Malaysia (BCM), which campaigns for migrant workers’ rights.
How and why did you come to Malaysia?
I have been here for 17 years. I came because I was a student at Mandalay University and was involved in politics, and got in trouble so fled and became a migrant worker myself.
Following the case of 35 migrant workers who were arrested for asking for their contracts to be upheld, why did the police just end up targeting the five leaders?
In my experience in all the cases they always target the leaders. They think if they find and target the leaders the case will be settled, to scare the other workers.
What’s the relationship between the employers and the police?
That is a major concern here. All workers cannot speak out to the police. The police don’t understand the workers explanations. That’s the first problem. The second problem is that most of the law enforcement agencies here, whenever the local Malaysian people complain to them, they always take action against the foreigners – that is a problem. This was a labour dispute – it should have been dealt with in a labour court – but they never use this channel. They just use the police; they just arrive and arrest them and transfer them to immigration who deport them. It’s very easy for the employer and safe for the employer, so a lot of them use this channel.
How often do employers take workers documents?
According to Malaysian law, employers can’t keep workers’ documents, but the immigration department or police never take action against the employers. They all know that they keep the workers’ documents but do nothing. The Sinometal Technology Company took all their documents.
How do you advise migrant workers in Malaysia?
Wherever you go to work you can’t get good wages and you are not safe if you don’t keep your documents. Because you are not skilled, the employers will pay you around 700 to 800 [Malaysia Ringgit – $US230-260], so please don’t run away – if you don’t follow the contract we can’t help you.
How many illegal Burmese migrant workers do you think there are in Malaysia?
I think there are about 200,000 illegal Burmese migrant workers in Malaysia. The majority are men, very few women. They do various kinds of work – in restaurants, engineering, production, and so on.
Why do you advise them to keep hold of their documents?
The first thing is the levy. The Malaysian government charges employers a levy for employing foreign workers. Employers regularly deduct this fee from their workers’ salaries. However as of 1 April 2009 the Malaysian government announced that the employer cannot deduct the levy charge from the workers, but 90 percent of employers don’t follow this government order – they just deduct it. I had a case on 11 January where I complained about levy deduction from a workers’ leader named Hla Min, a Burmese migrant who works for DW Plastics Ltd, who complained for all workers when a total of 48,000 ringgits ($US15,730) was deducted.
Did he get in trouble?
No. They had no other problem apart from the levy. They wanted the employer to refund their money, so I went to the labour department and reported for them. In a month the employer will refund their money.
What happens when a worker is detained for not having the right documents?
Well, in Malaysia, if an Indonesian is detained they can get a travel document for 15 ringgits ($US5) per person and then they have to go back by boat or air. For our Burmese people, they have to pay their embassy 550 ringgits ($US180), or 900 ringgits ($US295). If you pay 500 ringgits you stay a very long time in the camp; if you pay 900 you get a fast process. Now workers are facing more problems because the Burmese government has introduced a new passport, so all the workers have to go the embassy and pay 4,000 ringgits ($US1310) per person, a very high price.
Why does the Malaysian government have these levies?
They want to reduce the number of migrant workers. They are facing a lot of social problems – they think it’s the migrant workers fault but it is not true. The Malaysian government is a pro-employer government; most of the politicians are nationalists, and that is a problem.
How is the experience of Malaysia different for different Burmese ethnic groups?
In Malaysia there are over 40 different ethnic organisations. Most are dedicated to registering refugees – in my experience they don’t concentrate on workers rights. I’m very sad about this.
How would you describe the UN High Commissioner for Refugee’s work for refugees here?
Every organisation is based on its members. Many of the ethnic organisations have good relations with UNHCR, but the UNHCR are also involved in a lot of corruption, particularly with registration of refugees and with resettlement.
How does it work with resettlement?
Three months ago, UNHCR resettled someone to New Zealand. The New Zealand authorities checked her biography and UNHCR had given a different biography, so the New Zealand authorities didn’t let her out of their camp. So it is very clear that it was a substitution for someone who is still here
Why? Did she pay UNHCR?
I think so, because at that time, one of my colleagues was resettled and he met this girl in the resettlement camp and he informed me.
How do migrants contact you?
We publish a newsletter in peninsula Malaysia. In this newsletter we have one article about migrants rights in Malaysia with our hotline number, so when they have a problem they contact us. We send the newsletter to Burmese shops around peninsula Malaysia and the shopkeeper sells it to migrant workers. It has no adverts and it is non-profit.
How difficult is it for migrant workers to access their legal rights?
I was also a migrant worker five years ago. My employer violated the law all the time. I knew he was wrong but I couldn’t point out correctly. So whatever the employer said to us, he was right. So I wanted to know the migrant rights in Malaysia and tell all our migrant workers because if they knew about this then they can demand it [their rights]. So I tried to translate the migrants rights into Burmese and distribute it.
How has it changed things?
It has had a good effect, because we put here that the employer cannot deduct levies, and that they can contact us or the trade union congress whenever. So after the workers read this they know the employers are wrong and they contact us and work out how they can get it refunded.
In Malaysia migrant workers will get injured or have health problems. What is access to healthcare like in Malaysia?
Whenever a Malaysian goes to hospital, they have to pay one ringgit ($US0.30) for registration. For the migrant worker it is 15 ringgit ($US5) for registration. After we pay the 15 ringgit the doctor puts you in a check room and then he tells us what we need [financially], and then we pay a deposit. If they can’t pay, then a there’s a problem. They have to borrow to pay the deposit of, say, 500 ringgits ($US163). This is discrimination against migrants. It is not only in hospitals, it is in all government agencies – for example, if a migrant wants to open a bank account they cannot freely open an account; they need an employer recommendation letter, while for local people no letter is needed.
Are migrant workers dependent upon employers, and why is this system in place?
According to Malaysian immigration law employers are responsible for their migrant workers. For example when a visitor comes they show their passport and can enter Malaysia, but when a migrant worker arrives they are not allowed to leave the airport until their employer arrives to pick them up. Moreover, we receive a lot of complaints about working conditions for migrant workers. They are abused physically and mentally.
ဆက္လက္ဖတ္႐ႈရန္...
Thursday, January 20, 2011
‘Migrant rights? No’
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Statement of Good Electronics for Burmese Women Migrant
Monday, March 15, 2010
Myanmar workers laid off without notice
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Exploitation on Burmese Workers
About 100 female Burmese migrant workers who were employed under the category of foreign migrant workers by one company n Malaysia. These Burmese workers arrived Malaysia as legal migrant workers. They were sent to Malaysia by Shwe Ponsan Foreign Workers Company based in Burma. They were received by TEBERAU JAT SDN BHD. The address of the company is: No. 26, Jalan Pulai 13, Taman Pulai Utama, Skudai. The responsible person of that company is Mr. Amutha and contact mobile number is 012-7219246. They are working in an electronic company namely ITG Electronic Company and address are Singapore office address is: No. 6, EU Tong Sen Street, #10-08, Singapore 059817, Tel: +65-68966979. Fax: +65-68966973.
Malaysia Factories: No. 10, Jalan Hasil, Kawasan Perindustrian Jalan Hasil, 81200 Tampoi, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Tel: +607-2345722. Fax: +607-2345731 / +607-2345503
Above mentioned ITG company is not taking any responsibility for the Burmese workers when they arrived in Malaysia. Therefore, TEBERAU JAT SDN BHD has arranged for the Burmese workers. In a two storey building, about 30 workers are sleeping upstairs and 50 workers are sleeping downstairs without their own rooms. Every floor has 3 bath rooms, but all are not useable and only one wash-room has been use for all workers. Six by six foot room was given as a kitchen for all workers. However, every worker has to pay RM10 for water and electricity.
They are working in ITG Electronic Company, but there is no proper health-care for the Burmese workers. Besides, the company which officially brought the workers from Burma is also neglecting the condition of workers. Therefore, the workers have to pay for their medication when they are sick. If the clinic doesn’t grant the medical leave, the ITG Company cuts RM 52 per day per absentee. During 2009 economic downturn, the company stopped the factory about three months. During that period, every worker was provided with only RM 100 per three month for their food. The workers’ daily wages was RM 18.50. Normal monthly income of the worker was RM 480 and if a worker worked for extra hours, total monthly income was RM 864. However, each worker had to pay RM 120 for levy fee. Therefore, each worker had to pay RM 130 (electricity, water and levy fee ).
One time, the agent cut RM 50 per worker for the reason of issuing bank cards. But no one has accepted bank card yet. This year each worker had to pay RM 50 per month for 8 months for the reason of extending the validity of their passports. About 30 workers who didn’t accept such policy quit their jobs, abandoned their work permits and passports and started working as illegal migrant workers in different areas.
In this month of December 2009, when 7 female workers prepared to go back to Burma, but invalidity of their work permit, they couldn’t go back to Burma. Finally, they informed the Burmese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and by the help of Burmese Embassy, six female workers were able to go back to Burma on 17th Dec 2009. However, one female worker had to go back Burma illegally through Thailand by the brokers. Burmese Embassy always ignores the problems and difficulties of Burmese workers in Malaysia due to maintain good relationship with Malaysian government. After all workers have to know such incident, they asked the agent to provide them with their copy of work permit. However the agent didn’t provide them what they asked for. Consequently, all Burmese are suffering fear as if they are illegal in Malaysia.
Some of those workers contacted us recently and they asked us to find some help to get back their passports, work permits. Our group and Network of Action for Migrant in Malaysia (NAMM) will continue to help them within our capacity.
Burma Campaign Malaysia
Tun Tun
016-2980784
e-mail: wnyunt@hotmail.com 

ဆက္လက္ဖတ္႐ႈရန္...
Monday, February 1, 2010
Recognised refugee will get the iD card , can stay temporary and work
It is time for us to call for register all migrants especially from Burma .. allow to stay, work, access to health care and ect .
Malaysia plans IDs for refugees to prevent arrest
Published: January 31, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia plans to issue identification cards to refugees who are recognized by the United Nations, allowing them to stay in the country temporarily and avoid arrest as illegal immigrants.
Malaysia, which has declined to join the U.N. convention on refugees for fear of attracting a flood of migrants, previously has arrested refugees frequently as illegal aliens. Mostly from Myanmar, the refugees often have spent months in overcrowded detention center and faced caning and deportation.
The plans announced Monday reflect a softening of Malaysia's position toward the refugees, although it continues to refuse them official recognition.
Home Ministry Secretary General Mahmood Adam said the government would work with the U.N. refugee agency to issue the cards so immigration enforcement personnel would recognize and spare U.N.-designated refugees.
"As long as they are recognized as refugees by the U.N., they can stay here temporarily," he told The Associated Press. "They cannot work here, but they can do odd jobs."
He could not give an exact timeline but said the initiative was in the "final stage."
According to the U.N. agency, about 75,600 refugees and asylum-seekers were in Malaysia as of November. Most fled persecution in Myanmar.
Yante Ismail, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, welcomed the development and further discussions to form a documentation system.
"Proper documentation for refugees is essential to their protection," she said.
All of the refugees in Malaysia are waiting to be resettled to a third country that officially accepts refugees, which grants them legal status and the right to work.
From ; http://www.newsok.com/malaysia-plans-ids-for-refugees-to-prevent-arrest/article/feed/129193?custom_click=pod_headline_asia

