arifabdull

Photo taken from Suara Pekerja August 2007

Suaram’s Press Statement: 31 March 2008

Suaram regrets the statement by the Selangor Menteri Besar (Chief Minister), Khalid Ibrahim in calling for Suaram to put national interests before universal human rights on the levy issue of migrant workers. We are also concerned that the Menteri Besar, who came into power because the previous government had not sufficiently listened to the people, has shown scant regard for the views and opinions of civil society.

We wish to remind the Menteri Besar that the pre-ambler and first part of Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) manifesto in the recent general elections pledged the establishment of a constitutional state that upholds unity, integrity and human rights. PKR has also pledged its support for the People’s Declaration, which demanded for, among others, the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

It is based on these pledges that the people supported PKR and other opposition parties to form the state government in Selangor. The statement of the Chief Minister does not bode well with PKR’s electoral pledges.

Although we welcome the good intentions of the Chief Minister to reduce the reliance on migrant workers and to train unemployed youths in Selangor, we are of the opinion that the levy cannot and will not solve the problems as it is not addressing the root causes.

Firstly, the wages in the industries where the migrant workers ply their trade are too low. Locals, especially those with family, cannot survive with that kind of salaries. Thus, employers would choose migrant workers over local workers so long as the wages of migrant workers are lower than local workers. To rectify this problem, there should be a minimum wage policy to for all workers and this will effectively encourage employers to take local workers and reduce the reliance on migrant workers. The Chief Minister is reminded that the minimum wage of RM1,500 is one of the pledges in the PKR’s manifesto.

Secondly, the lack of rights protection for migrant workers in comparison to local workers makes them vulnerable to various forms of abuses and exploitations such as long hours of work, working in multiple work places, unfair reduction of wages, etc. Unless all migrant workers are accorded similar rights as enjoyed by local workers, employers will continue to prefer migrant workers than local workers.

Thirdly, many recruiting agencies have been reaping huge profits from the migrant workers. Unless these unfair and unjust profits are reduced significantly and laws are strictly enforced, unscrupulous recruiting agencies will continue to bring in migrant workers into the country at the expense of our nationals.

Fourthly, unless the widespread corruption which has facilitated the huge influx of migrant workers is addressed and a proper control mechanism in place, the number of migrant workers streaming into the country will continue to increase.

These are the four main causes of the problems associated with migrant workers, and they fall within the ambit of powers of the Federal Government. While the initiative of the Chief Minister to discuss the matter with the Federal Government on issues pertaining to the high levy and agency charges on migrant workers is most welcomed, the Chief Minister should additionally raise the said four causes with the Federal Government.

It is indeed in our national interests to accord migrant workers their labour and basic human rights so that local workers are well-protected against the ‘race to the bottom’ with migrant workers in terms of wages.

Be that as it may, Suaram cautions the Selangor Menteri Besar against the convenient subordination of what he refers to as ’universal human rights’ to ‘national interests’. Human rights is indivisible, interdependent and universal. We would like to remind him that the protection of human rights is the foremost obligation of every government, and ‘national interests’ cannot be used as an excuse to shirk off responsibilities to protect fundamental human rights based on universal principles. This rhetoric of the Menteri Besar is most discouraging and regresses to language commonly known to be associated with the Barisan Nasional government.

Suaram once again calls on the Selangor Menteri Besar to halt the levy policy on migrant workers. We urge the Menteri Besar to call for a dialogue with civil society organizations to discuss a holistic policy on migrant workers. The state government should also form a consultative council on migrant workers’ issues and invite civil society organizations to sit in the council.

Yap Swee Seng

Executive Director

We refer to the Proposal of the newly appointed Selangor Menteri Besar, YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on the monthly RM 10.00 Foreign Workers fees as his first mission as the Menteri Besar of Selangor as reported in Oriental Daily on Tuesday March 25, 2008.

In the similar press conference with the Chinese Media, YAB Menteri Besar targeted 1.5 million foreign workers’ employers to pay about RM 1.0 billion for his “Human Development Programs” to provide the training and re-training for the Selangor Youth as to improve their earning to RM 2,000 bracket.

With our due respect for YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s honorable plan; it is equally important to invite the stakeholders for a constructive engagement discussion prior to a highlighted press conference that disturbed the Federation of Malaysia Employers, Foreign Missions, Migrant workers activists and grassroots social workers.

According to Malaysia Federation of Employers unnamed member, the additional fee imposed by the Selangor State Government is a redundant replica of Malaysia Federal Government where MVLKS and other certifications have already in places.

MFE already pay the taxes and levies towards such programs; it is unwise for the newly elected Selangor Government to impose such an additional fees. Besides in many situations the fees will be passed to foreign workers whom already earn far below the industry standard.

Senator Prof. Salleh had mentioned about the corruption and mal-practices in the Human Resources training programs which had failed to train and re-trains the unemployed graduate; it has also created many bankruptcies cases among the political cronies

We, at Migrant Care strongly oppose to such foreign workers’ fee because:

1.      The average gross earning of the migrant workers in the factory is about RM 800 per month which is far below the poverty line of Selangor state of RM 1,500/month.

If the employers comply with the standard government tariff, the levy is RM 150 per month, Medical Check up is RM 20 per month, Insurance about RM 8 per month, EPF RM 72 per month, and Outsourcing Administrative cost RM 20. Migrant workers have to incur at least RM 270/month official deduction. This has not include the rental and meal deduction from the Salary.

2.      Majority of the workers has to pay the immigration levies much higher than the official tariff. For example, the official rate for construction workers levy RM 1,200 but the workers actually pay between RM 2,800 to RM 3,500 per years. Rate for Service sector is RM 1,800 but were force to deduct up to RM 2,800. Additional fees imposed will add to rampant exploitative abuses to pass on to the migrant workers.

3.      Many Outsourcing Agents also imposed RM 20 per month management fees to be deducted from the migrant workers. An official Placement fee for outsourced Bangladeshi workers is Takal 80,000(RM 4,300), but the workers were forced to pay RM 8,000 to RM 12,000. They have to work for at least one year for free just to pay off the middleman in Malaysia and Bangladesh.

4.      In the plantation sector, the average daily wage for the migrant workers is RM 7-9 per day (RM 270 per month) as compare to RM 19.35 per day paid to the Malaysia Plantation Workers Union.

The additional fees will add burden to the migrant workers which will add to the numbers of illegal that branded as social problems to Malaysia Community.

It’s timely for the KeAdilan administration to walk the talk rather than replicating the Federal Government’s failures into the new administration.

The decision to impose the new foreign workers fees will create more social problems to our society. It is better to initiate the repatriation of these migrant workers than to expose them to the multiple exploitative agenda.

We urge YAB Tan Sri Khalid not to replicate the failure of the Malaysia Federal government that led the Coalition government into the unwarranted mal-practices that bring injustice to the migrant workers through the People Justice Party

Jakarta, Tuesday, March 25, 2008

ANIS HIDAYAH (Executive Director) +6281578722874
WAHYU SUSILO (Policy Analyst) +628129307964
ALEX ONG (Malaysia Representative) +60163121201
 

Related:

 Selangor wants to exploit migrants? Susan Loone

 Yuran RM10: Suaram bantah S’gor Malaysiakini

Cerita selepas pilihanraya umum ke-12: Manusia lawan manusia, babi yang jadi mangsa!

 Kesian mereka!

Polis buru penyebar ‘SMS babi’

Malaysiakini – Mar 25, 08 9:13pm

Menjelang sambutan Maulidur Rasul minggu lepas, satu mesej khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) disebarkan meluas di kawasan parlimen Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang.

SMS itu, antara lain, berbunyi ahli parlimen PKR tersebut, Tan Tee Beng, akan menghadiahkan 100 ekor babi untuk sambutan hari kebesaran Islam itu.

Menurut ketua polis Seberang Perai Selatan, Supt. Shafien Mamat, mesej itu mula beredar dua hari sebelum 19 Mac, lapor laman web Utusan Malaysia hari ini.

Susulan kejadian itu, PKR dan anggota parlimen itu membuat aduan polis.

Polis menyiasat perkara itu menurut Seksyen 500 Kanun Keseksaan. Jika sabit kesalahan, seseorang boleh dihukum penjara dua tahun atau denda atau kedua-duanya.

Kejadian menyebar SMS yang meresahkan penduduk di negeri ini, dan beberapa negeri lagi yang kini dikuasai pakatan pembangkang, semakin menjadi-jadi selepas pilihanraya umum 8 Mac.

SMS lain di negeri itu, antaranya, mendakwa kerajaan negeri pimpinan DAP-PKR mengarahkan azan di masjid-masjid diperlahankan dan mengajak orang ramai berdemonstrasi.

Di Selangor, tersebar SMS bahawa menteri besar Kelantan, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, akan menyampaikan ceramah dalam tempoh beberapa lagi.

Bagaimanapun program itu tidak dianjurkan dan pihak terlibat telah menafikannya.

Risalah-risalah yang mengelirukan orang ramai turut diedarkan, antaranya di Perak dan Selangor.

 Dear Eli, pls ask him to stop!

That was what I means when I wrote an open letter to Encik Anwar Ibrahim;

“Tapi percayalah, jika PKR ternyata bercita-cita menjadi sebuah parti untuk para kapitalis (penindas rakyat), umpama UMNO dan Barisan Nasionalnya, maka ketika itu harap-haraplah anak-anak muda ini akan mampu bangkit”. – arifabdull, 3 May 2007

Foreign workers tax

Khalid also said the state government will seek to realise a system where companies that hire foreign workers will be ‘taxed’ RM9 per worker per month.

If this can be collected for all of the estimated 1.5 million foreign workers in Selangor, it can serve as a source of funding for skills training programmes for the state’s youth. This, in turn, can contribute towards decreasing the dependence on foreign labour, said Khalid.

“I don’t think the employers will grumble too much, because they are investing in the future of the state. Due to the decreased dependence on foreign labour, there will be less crimes, less social problems, less dependency on facilities and medical and so on.

“That is the tradeoff between the two. If I can do that, then I can move Selangor into the future,” he said. – MB: ‘Zero squatters’ policy to continue & Q&A: We will ‘pursue’ Khir Toyo in Malaysiakini

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Suaram’s Press statement: 26 March 2008

Suaram is deeply disturbed with the plan of the Selangor state government to collect RM10 monthly fee from all migrant workers in the state of Selangor. The new policy was announced by the Chief Minister of the newly formed Selangor state government, Khalid Ibrahim recently during a press interview with Chinese press.

According to the Chief Minister, the money collected will be used for the purpose of setting up a re-training fund for unemployed youths. It aims to equip them with more skills and in a long run reduce the reliance on migrant workers.

The migrant workers community is one of the most exploited and most marginalized groups in the society. They work in conditions described as 3-Ds – dirty, demeaning and dangerous, and theirs are jobs which the locals shun off. They receive low wages and are often exploited by employers or recruitment agencies for non-payment, unjust deduction of salary, long working hours, unfair dismissal etc.

By taxing the migrant workers who are barely surviving and probably in debt in order to pay the exorbitant fees to come to work in Malaysia, an extra heavy burden is added on the migrant workers and their families. And to use the money collected from the migrant workers to re-train local unemployed youth and eventually replace the migrant workers, is scandalous, to say the least.

Even if the monthly fee is to be paid by the employer and not the migrant workers, we are concerned that eventually this fee will be deducted from the migrant worker’s wages one way or another.

The new policy reflects how unsensitized Malaysian political parties, be they in the opposition or the government, are to the plight of migrant workers.

The Parti Rakyat Keadilan (PKR) has espoused the principle of justice and won a huge victory with the pledge to the people to fight against the widening income gap between the “have” and the “have-nots”. Certainly, taxing the poor migrant workers to assist local unemployed youth, do not measure up to the principle and spirit of justice.

Suaram calls on Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim to immediately withdraw this unjust policy. We also urge the Chief Minister to consult civil society organizations who are working on migrant workers issues before making any policy decisions in the future.

Yap Swee Seng

Executive Director of Suaram

Penang CM throwing away NEP?

PKR stands firm – No to NEP

Umno people, jangan cepat melatah!

Even, the most ordinary rakyat Malaysia like me know exactly how the Dasar Ekonomi Baru (NEP) abused and manipulated by UMNO, in the name of Malays and Bumiputeras.

Please read the following synopsis of a forth-coming book on Tun Daim Zainuddin;

________&________

Books have been written about Tun Daim Zainuddin, but not many people know who the real Daim is. He is famous for being taciturn. Everyone knows that Daim is the silent type; so silent, in fact, that the victims ofhis scheming and conniving have fallen like ten pins without ever knowing what hit them.