Migrants In Malaysia Claim They Are Left In  Dark

Hundreds of South Asian migrants in Malaysia who have been jobless for months claim they are losing hope after failing to land the jobs that recruitment agencies promised to find for them in exchange for thousands of dollars in fees.

About 500 migrants, mostly young men from Nepal and Bangladesh who had arrived in Malaysia in December spend their days in crowded rooms or at an outdoor cafeteria at a student residence about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Kuala Lumpur.

They claim to have entered the nation on a three-month work visa that was supposed to be converted to a work permit but was never done. The employees at the facility where they are staying told many news agencies that because their legal situation is murky, they are afraid to leave the building.

Many claims that while promising them jobs, recruitment agents stole their passports.

“We’re all down and hopeless. We have already paid a sizable sum for the work. An immigrant from Nepal who was staying in the dormitory asked Reuters, “How can I pay that back if I don’t have a job?

The 23-year-old signed a two-year contract with a Malaysian cleaning company but hasn’t started working because she was afraid of backlash from recruitment agents. He claimed that just like other people there, he had borrowed $2,300 (or 300,000 Nepali rupees) to pay an agent for the work. A monthly salary of 2,062 ringgit ($464.94) had been promised to him.

All of the employees at the facility share a common experience. After arriving in Malaysia, hiring companies informed them there were no immediate openings and took them to lodging facilities to wait. They were then told that although they would eventually find employment, they would not be paid while doing so.

Although the workers had employment contracts and were promised that their temporary work visas would become permanent upon arrival in Malaysia, it is unclear how they ended up without jobs. Malaysia started an investigation last month.

Requests for comment were not answered by Puncak Jupiter Management Services or Star Domain Resources, which are listed as employers on some of the employees’ travel documents. Requests for comment from Amial International, one of the employment agencies the workers used, went unanswered.

Requests for comment from Malaysia’s labor department and Ministry of human resources were not promptly fulfilled. The ministry has pledged to find employment for a separate group of 226 stranded workers from Bangladesh and Nepal.

About 15% of Malaysia’s 15 million workers are migrants, who are the backbone of the country’s export-driven economy. Because of their use of forced labor, Malaysian businesses have recently been subject to U.S. bans.

Rights advocates claim that since Malaysia eased recruitment procedures this year to fill a 1.2 million job shortage across its plantation, manufacturing, and construction industries, migrant workers have been at greater risk.

“It’s a bigger problem now,” declared Adrian Pereira, executive director of the migrant rights organization North South Initiative, noting that his team had heard of reports of about 1,200 other workers in Malaysia who were suffering from a comparable situation.

Last month, the Bangladeshi embassy in Kuala Lumpur urged Malaysia to be more transparent to protect its citizens from being defrauded of employment opportunities.

A “few hundred” Bangladeshi citizens were stranded in Malaysia without jobs, according to a Bangladeshi official who spoke to Reuters under the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

These complaints, according to the Nepal embassy.

The migrants lived in small rooms with bunk beds and one shared bathroom at the facility.

The Nepalese embassy in Kuala Lumpur reported two workers, Nepali citizens aged 43 and 46, committed suicide there between February and April, citing information from Malaysian police and hospitals. 

Without money, the migrants struggle to pay back loans from their home countries and buy food.

We are still unsure of our employment status. It’s been three months, but the agent keeps asking us to wait,” one Bangladeshi worker said.