4 trafficked Filipinas rescued in Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines—Four Filipinas forced to work as bar girls in a southern Malaysian state have been rescued, the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur reported.

“The four were locked up and forced to work in a night club in Johor Baru, some 220 kilometers away from Kuala Lumpur and is near the Malaysian border with Singapore,” the embassy said in a statement.

The four trafficked women were rescued on April 19 by members of the Royal Malaysia Police, through its Criminal Investigation Division-Anti-Human Trafficking Section and the embassy, it said.

The victims, all Metro Manila residents, were allegedly recruited and escorted by a certain Ramil Garcia from Manila to Zamboanga. They then travelled by boat to Sandakan in Sabah, with the promise of high-paying jobs in Malaysia, the embassy said.

Upon arrival in Sandakan, Garcia turned them over to a certain Norminda Buko Whigan for ”sale” to night club owners as “customer service workers,” it said. They only learned about the real nature of their work when they reached Sandakan.

After a two-week stay in Sandakan and no offers from club owners there, the four Filipinas were transported by plane to Johor Bahru in West Malaysia on March 29 and offered to a certain club owner Emy Wong.

They were locked up at the Wong residence and made to work at the club the following day.

The four women, with ages between 27 to 36, eventually were able to ask for help from the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and others, which alerted the embassy.

“In the evening of April 18, Malaysian CID agents, accompanied by two embassy officials, proceeded to Johor Bahru in West Malaysia and raided the club,” the embassy said.

But the club owner had left, together with the Filipinas, minutes before the raiding team came.

The team then proceeded to the Wong residence, where the Filipinas were found locked up, and rescued them. But Wong could not be found and police arrested her husband, who was in the house.

The Filipinas were then brought before a local judge, who issued an interim protection order, and are now in a shelter run by Malaysian police and welfare authorities. They will later be turned over to the embassy for repatriation to Manila.

The embassy lauded the quick action undertaken by the Malaysian police.

“We appreciate the swift action of the Malaysian police in rescuing our nationals.  This is proof of the commitment and partnership of our two countries against human trafficking,” Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya said.

“Coming right after the conviction of Alfred Lim (Eugene Beng Hua Lim), this latest rescue is another clear indicator of the commitment and partnership of our two countries against human trafficking,”  Malaya said.

On March 30, Lim, a Singaporean national, was convicted by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur for two counts of human trafficking, and sentenced him to three-year imprisonment for each count.  This was after two Filipinas who fled his placement agency filed complaints against him in July 2009, after enduring prolonged periods of abuse and maltreatment.

The embassy reminded Filipinos to be aware of the modus operandi of trafficking syndicates, so as to protect themselves from becoming victims.

“Our Filipinos should already beware anytime they are made to exit through the ‘back door’ in the Tawi-Tawi area without proper documentations. In most likelihood, they are being trafficked already,” it said. - INQUIRER.net , 5:38 pm | Saturday, April 21st, 2012

16 OFWs barred from leaving

MANILA, Philippines - Operatives of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Zamboanga port recently barred 16 undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound for Malaysia from leaving the country.

BI-Zamboanga alien control officer Sitti Rubiana Lutian said their officers twice foiled attempts by human trafficking syndicates to use the Zamboanga port as exit point to Malaysia.

In a report to Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, Lutian said 12 of the passengers arrived at the Zamboanga airport last Feb. 22 while four others arrived last Feb. 25 aboard separate flights from Manila.

The passengers proceeded to the Zamboanga seaport and attempted to board the ship M/V Danica Joy 2 bound for Sandakan, Sabah when they were off-loaded, Lutian said.

Lutian said the 16 OFWs hail from Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Pangasinan. – Helen Flores, (The Philippine Star) Updated March 01, 2010 12:00 AM

For deported Filipinos, it’s Sabah or bust

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Filipinos deported from Sabah in Malaysia are bent on returning despite the threat of getting arrested again, jailed, humiliated and caned.

Basit Nur, a Muslim religious preacher (tabligh) from this city who had gone to Sabah to work as a carpenter, said being held for almost three months at the Ruma Mera detention center there was more bearable than seeing his family mired in poverty.

The Philippines has a long-standing claim to Sabah, which lies in the northern part of the island of Borneo. Yet an average of 150 to 200 Filipino men, women and children found to be illegally staying there have been deported every week on a regular basis since 2002, according to reports.

And even as the brutal cycle goes on, the Malaysian government pays yearly rent of P70,000 to the heirs of the sultan of Sulu, who continue to lay sovereign or proprietary claim to Sabah.

Speaking in Filipino and Chavacano, Basit Nur, 40, said earning 45 Malaysian ringgit (P450) a day in Sabah was better than trying to peddle his skills in this city where he often faced discrimination.

“They don’t want to hire me because I am a Muslim, and if they hire me, they pay me only P120 to P150 a day,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Asked if he was planning to return to Sabah, Nur said: “I will. Even if I don’t have the money for the processing of my papers here, I will find other ways to return. And I will make sure that I will outsmart the police there.”

He said he did not mind getting arrested again. “Shame can’t be eaten. What’s important is a job to sustain one’s family.”

‘I have to return’

Esmula Arisal, 40, arrived here in Zamboanga City on Saturday after being jailed for three months in Sabah, and said he would not go back to his native Kalinggalang Caluang in Sulu province.

“I will stay here. I will have my working papers processed. I have to return to Sabah,” he said.

A widower, Arisal has established roots in Sabah, where he makes a living selling assorted merchandise. His two children—Hilda, 12, and Midzfar, 2—were born there but are not recognized as Malaysian citizens.

When reminded of the maltreatment he would receive if he got arrested again by Malaysian police, Arisul said: “Why, is the Philippine government offering good jobs to unschooled people like me? Are good wages being offered here?”

But Arisal will leave his children to a relative in Sulu when he returns to Sabah.

“In Sulu, my children can play, go to school. If I get rearrested, they will no longer be with me,” he said.

‘No livelihood here’

In fact, some deportees have already made the trip back.

Sulu-born Maximo Abduraid, also a carpenter in Sabah, managed to return there last week, or three weeks after he was deported to Zamboanga City, according to his nephew, Werning Bilino.

On the phone from Sulu, Bilino said Abduraid had decided against staying in his hometown of Siasi.

“He has no house here,” Bilino said. “Even when I was small, he was already living in Sabah. He’s a carpenter there. Here, he was a fisherman; here, there is no livelihood.”

Eufrosina, who works as a cook in Sabah, said she did not want her children in Palawan province to know that she had been arrested and deported.

“It’s humiliating,” said Eufrosina, who asked that her surname be withheld. “My children know nothing of what has happened to me. They don’t need to know.”

But she stressed that the Filipinos arrested and jailed by Malaysian police—“including children, the elderly, the sick”—were not criminals.

“Our only crime is that we are working there because there is no work to be had here,” she said.

Re-integration program

Officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Mindanao said contingency measures were being worked out to address the problem.

Elizabeth Dy, the social welfare specialist in charge of the emergency assistance section, spoke of a plan to launch a “re-integration program” that would focus on the “livelihood, employment, health and education” of the deportees and their dependents.

Dy said the DSWD was in the process of ironing out the program mechanisms.

But Eufrosina said she could not afford to wait.

“I can’t wait for them to make the program a reality,” she said. “My children have to be fed, and their schooling should not be stopped.”

Like most of the other deportees, Eufrosina said she had to return to Sabah.

Standing by RP claim

In Malacañang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Philippine and Malaysian governments had laid down ground rules for the “orderly” repatriation of Filipinos living or working in Malaysia.

But this does not mean that the Philippines is abandoning its claim to Sabah, he said.

“We have to approach the problems step by step,” Ermita said Wednesday at his regular press conference.

He said the present situation called for cooperation with Malaysian authorities to ensure “humane treatment” for undocumented Filipinos.

Ermita denied that the agreement with Malaysia would jeopardize the claim of the heirs of the sultan of Sulu to Sabah, considering that Congress was in the process of drafting the Philippine baselines.

“Let us address the issue as it is—which is the plight of Filipinos being deported because we have to accept that, indeed, those staying there are ... either undocumented or [holding] spurious documents,” Ermita said.

He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had formed a task force headed by Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, “the purpose being to ensure that the manner of arrest, detention and repatriation is not very abusive, and [to discuss] how we can legalize their stay.”

An estimated 200,000 undocumented Filipinos are working in Malaysia, and 2,800 are in detention for illegal stay, Conejos said.

‘Since time immemorial’

The deportees travel by boat for more than 30 hours to return to the Philippines.

Ermita said Filipinos had been in Sabah “since time immemorial.”

“You can’t disregard the Sabah issue, but we can’t connect all these issues all at once. Otherwise, the goodwill that we have with the other country will be lost,” he said.

Ermita said the dialogue between the Department of Foreign Affairs and its Malaysian counterpart was being conducted “under an atmosphere of common understanding of the need to solve an immediate problem.”

A joint statement issued at the end of the two-day meeting of the 5th RP-Malaysia Working Group on Migrant Workers held at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City said the two parties had agreed on the humane and orderly conduct of the arrest, detention and repatriation of undocumented Filipinos in Sabah.

The Philippine and Malaysian groups were led by Conejos and Dato Raja Azahar bin Raja Abdul Manap, respectively.

Blood ties

“The migration between our peoples is not only for the purpose of work. Sabah is more than that. In addition to this movement of employment, there’s a vibrant trade between Sabah and the Philippines,” Conejos said, adding:

“They even antedate the establishment of the Republic of the Philippines and the Federation of Malaysia. So we always stress to them, what is happening in Sabah is a complex challenge to us …

“We have also very historic and blood ties with Sabah. We told them we are brothers in the area. We must always look at this not from the simplistic prism of movement for workers, but [as] part of the movement going on for centuries.”

During the meeting, the Philippine and Malaysian groups agreed to:

• Cooperate closely so that there would be minimal adverse impact arising from the actions to be undertaken by the Malaysian government.

• Establish procedures for the humane and orderly conduct of the arrest, detention and repatriation of illegal Filipino migrants, and to endeavor to include measures to improve facilities for those processes.

• Step up efforts to regularize eligible migrants.

• Turn over children unaccompanied by parents to the care of appropriate authorities.

• Ensure that only the medically fit will undertake the trip back to the Philippines.

• Facilitate the documentation of deportees. With a report from Cynthia D. Balana - Julie Alipala, Michael Lim Ubac, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 24, 2008

Malaysian exec wants illegal immigration in Sabah curbed

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia must quickly solve the problem of illegal Filipino immigrants in Sabah especially in the light of a challenge made by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to contest the ownership of Sabah in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), an official said.

Datuk Wilfred Bumburing (BN-Tuaran), said with so much focus on the Batu Puteh case in the ICJ, it would be wise for the Malaysian government to be seen to be doing something about the problem in Sabah.

“If we are not careful, we will lose a much bigger piece of land than Batu Puteh or the Middle Rocks,” he said when responding to Ibrahim Ali’s (Ind-Pasir Mas) comments about the ICJ’s recent decision when debating the Supplementary Supply Bill.

“Sabah MPs have raised this problem time and again and the government must take note of the immigrant issue,” he said, adding that the Philippine’s claim to Sabah is still there.

Bumburing said that Malaysia was still paying the Sultan of Sulu a certain amount of money every year.

Outside the Dewan, Bumburing said some of the immigrants have become entrenched in Sabah, adding that the number of Filipinos in Sabah was unknown.

“This is why we need a Royal Commission of Inquiry,” he said.

Reports in Philippine online news portals quoted Moro leader Nur Misuari as saying on Saturday that the amount of money paid by Sabah to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu was “pittance.”

Misuari said the Sabah issue should be brought to the ICJ for resolution. The Star-ANN - Asia News Network - Inquirer.net, May 27, 2008

Malaysian wives wary of Chinese maids

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - The women's wing of one of Malaysia's ruling parties has urged the government to rethink a plan to recruit domestic helpers from China, arguing they could seduce local married men, state press reported Sunday.

Ng Yen Yen, head of the women's wing of the Malaysian Chinese Association, said wives have complained that Chinese women are wrecking families by having affairs with their husband, the state Bernama news agency said.

After talks with the foreign ministry, she called for it "to halt this plan for the moment.

"We do not want the problem of these 'little dragon ladies' to escalate," Bernama quoted her as saying. "These women are enticing local married men into having affairs with them and are causing family disharmony."

The Malaysian Chinese Association is the second largest political party in Malaysia representing the minority ethnic Chinese and is a part of the ruling coalition.

Ng said that while she did not mean to disparage Chinese women, she had to look into the claims of local women who had complained to the party.

Malaysia's home affairs minister said Friday the government was considering importing maids from China and India to curb a shortage from Indonesia and the Philippines.

The move was criticized by a women's rights group, which said authorities must first tackle the problem of foreign helpers shunning Malaysia because of low pay and other issues.

"We must first address the issue of why foreign domestic workers are not keen to work in Malaysia," Ivy Josiah, executive director of the Women's Aid Organisation, told the Star daily Sunday.

"We have low labor standards, there are no compulsory days off, wages are low and workers are not properly protected," she added.

Malaysia employs 350,000 foreign maids, 95 percent of whom are Indonesian, but the 20,000 Filipino maids are paid almost three times the average because of their English language abilities. - Agence France-Presse - Inquirer.net, May 27, 2007

Malaysian state blasts Philippines on illegal migrants

KUALA LUMPUR -- A Malaysian state has accused the Philippines of hampering efforts to deport thousands of illegal Filipinos as local residents Wednesday said their presence led to crime.

Musa Aman, the chief minister of Sabah state, said Manila was not cooperating in accepting its nationals back, the state Bernama news agency reported.

"What I want to say here is that we will continue to round up the illegal immigrants in Sabah to ensure they are sent back to their home countries," Musa was quoted as saying.

"However, to repatriate them all is not easy because some countries, particularly the Philippines, have failed to give decent cooperation, causing the process to send their nationals back taking a very long time," he said.

Sabah shares a border with Indonesia and is separated by the narrow Sulu Sea from the Mindanao region in the southern Philippines, which shares cultural ties with Sabah.

Officials say there are up to half a million illegals living in Sabah -- mainly Muslim Filipinos and Indonesians who are engaged in local

industries such as fishing, plantation and construction.

Malaysia has launched a number of mass deportations, and in June last year held high-level talks with the Philippines over what both sides said was the growing problem of Filipino migration.

"Police in all districts have carried out operations almost every day to trace and round up the illegal immigrants and hold them at the detention centers pending repatriation," Musa said.

But Patrick Sindu, president of the Consumers Association of Sabah, went further Wednesday, saying that the problem was "very serious" and accused many illegals of criminal activities such as robbery and rape.

"It is clear the Malaysia government has no political will to solve the illegal problem," he said. - Agence France-Presse - Inquirer.net, April 04, 2007

RP, Malaysia rescue Filipina from Sabah brothel

DoJ moving to save more

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine and Malaysian authorities cooperated with each other to rescue an 18-year-old Filipina sold to a Sabah brothel for 15,000 ringgit (around P200,000) last month.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the rescue was undertaken by the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) anti-illegal recruitment task force (AIRTF) and Malaysian authorities.

The victim, a resident of Novaliches, Quezon City, was recruited by her aunt's friend last April 21, supposedly to work as guest relations officer (GRO) at a posh club in Sabah.

That same day, after she signed a contract and the recruited had processed her passport, she was flown to Sabah through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Pampanga.

On arriving in Sabah, the victim said she was given a day to rest and then forced into prostitution, with male clients paying a man she identified only as "Boss Nick," 3,500 ringgit (almost P50,000) for her services.

The victim said her handler made her take between two to three customers a night, adding that her 20 other companions were not as lucky as they were made to service between five to eight men a night.

She added that the brothel was multi-racial, with Chinese, Thais and Filipinas.

Gonzalez said efforts are now underway to rescue the victim's other companions.

He said he has already ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to hunt down the recruiter.

He also ordered the Bureau of Immigrations (BI) to tighten their watch on all the country's airport to prevent human smuggling.

Gonzalez said he has also ordered the BI attached to the AIRTF to provide the bureau with police powers and enable its operatives to arrest suspected human traffickers and their charges while at the airports.

"It has come to my attention that Filipino women are being recruited by crooked and unscrupulous recruiters, wherein such women end up as prostitutes in brothels in Sabah, Malaysia,” Gonzalez’s order to the BI said.

The usual point of exits for such women are Clark, Pampanga, and Zamboanga. Foregoing considered, your office is directed to strictly implement laws, rules, regulations and procedures relative to departures from the Philippines especially in the above areas to protect our women from prostitution," he said. - Tetch Torres, INQUIRER.net, May 21, 2008

Rising conservatism cast doubts on Malaysia future

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Rising Islamic conservatism in Malaysia, where women were caned under Islamic law for the first time this month, has cast doubt over the future of the multi-ethnic country, commentators say.

The thrashing of three women for sex out of wedlock, a spate of firebombings at places of worship, and a row over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims have shaken Malaysia's reputation as a moderate Muslim-majority nation.

"Malaysia's multi-religious future is uncertain because the government is caving in to the demands of conservative Islamic forces," said sociologist Noraini Othman from pressure group Sisters in Islam.

The religious sharia courts, which operate in parallel with the civil system, have become more muscular in recent years, clamping down on rarely enforced laws that ban alcohol and sex out of wedlock for Muslim Malays.

"The caning of the three women was a clear violation of Malaysia's penal code which does not allow women to be caned," said Noraini.

"So this is a major clash between sharia and civil law in Malaysia, with the government obviously siding with sharia."

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin defended the caning, saying at the weekend that it was "far lighter" than the heavy length of rattan used to flog criminals in the civil justice system for crimes like rape and murder.

"The punishment is legitimate and in accordance with the law," he said.

The action against the women, who in a carefully managed press conference said they welcomed their punishment as an opportunity to repent, came after a dispute over the word "Allah," which has escalated religious tensions.

Eleven churches, a mosque, and two Muslim prayer halls were attacked with Molotov cocktails, stones, and paint following a December court ruling that overturned a ban on non-Muslims using "Allah" as a translation for "God."

The government argues that although the word is commonly used by Christians in the Middle East and in neighboring Indonesia, it is off-limits in Malaysia because it could encourage conversion out of Islam, which is illegal.

The dispute has highlighted fears among Malaysia's ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities that rising "Islamization" is seeing their rights gradually eroded.

"There is probably no country in Asia that is getting the bad press these days that Malaysia is," the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy said in a recent report.

"Islamic activists... are threatening Malaysia’s secular credentials and pushing for a broader Islamization of Malaysia in ways that could deter not only foreign investors but also indigenous groups like ethnic Chinese and Indian business people."

Analysts say the politicization of Islam has escalated since March 2008 elections that saw the long-serving Barisan Nasional coalition lose unprecedented ground to a three-member opposition alliance.

After minority voters deserted the coalition, its lead party the United Malays National Organization (Umno) is now vying with the conservative Islamic party PAS, an opposition member, for the votes of Malays.

"These recent issues of caning and the use of the word 'Allah' are all political rather than religious, in a bid to get greater Malay support at the polls rather than really attempting to resolve any religious issue," blogger and columnist Muaz Omar told AFP.

"For a very long time, Islam in Malaysia has been managed and controlled by a select few," he said.

"In the end, it will be up to the Malays to determine what happens—as the country gets more urbanized it is likely that they will reject such conservative attitudes and Umno unless it changes." - Romen Bose, Agence France-Presse-Inquirer.net, February 22, 2010

Weekly day off for foreign maids in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Foreign maids working in Malaysia will soon get one day off a week as part of a bid to improve working conditions for domestic helpers from overseas, according to a minister.

Human resources minister S. Subramaniam told state media late Tuesday his ministry was amending the Employment Act to make it compulsory for employers to give maids a day off.

He said it was part of moves to prevent the abuse of domestic workers in Malaysia—most of whom are from Indonesia—who are not covered by legislation that protects foreign workers in other sectors like construction.

"The ministry will make it mandatory for all domestic helpers to sign (a) contract of employment containing provisions like salary, the name of employers, their workplaces, and the compulsory one day off a week," Subramaniam was quoted as saying.

"We may be able to implement it this year," he added, but did not give a date as to when the law would be amended.

Subramaniam said the off day would be jointly determined by employer and employee while the domestic helper could forgo the rest day as long as they were compensated for it.

Last month, the government said it was coming out with new laws to protect domestic workers from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages, and poor working conditions.

Malaysia—one of Asia's largest importers of labor—last year hosted an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers, including domestic maids as well as workers in the plantation and manufacturing sectors.

Malaysia has no laws governing working conditions for domestic workers.

Indonesian maids often work long hours, seven days a week, for a wage as low as 120 dollars a month. However, the Philippines insists on contracts stipulating payment and regular days off for its citizens working here.

Philippine government figures as of December 2007 put the number of Filipinos working in Malaysia at about 250,000. - Agence France-Presse-Inquirer.net, June 17, 2009

8 Filipina ‘sex slaves’ flee Sabah; victims finally home

MANILA, Philippines -- Eight Filipino women who were promised decent and good paying jobs in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah but ended up as sex slaves arrived in Manila Thursday night, eight days after escaping from a prostitution den.

The women, aged 17 to 24, who arrived in Manila via a connecting flight through Cebu City at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, broke into tears upon seeing the woman who helped arrange their flight home, Dory Villanueva, wife of Evangelist Brother Eddie Villanueva.

“Maraming salamat ma’am ... Maraming salamat ma’am [Thank you very much ma’am... Thank you very much ma’am],” the women said in broken and muffled voices as they hugged Villanueva’s wife.

Their return was considered nothing short of a miracle by leaders of the Jesus Is Lord (JIL) Movement, which provided the women shelter in the Malaysian city for eight days after their escape.

“This should serve as an eye opener for our government. So many women fall victims to trafficking. We hope the government directs the embassies to protect the rights of our women,” Villanueva said.

JIL Pastor James, who declined to divulge his surname, said the women were recruited along with dozens of others by a Filipino with ties to a big-time trafficking syndicate in Malaysia. They were promised a salary of P6,500 a day for jobs in karaoke bars and restaurants.

JIL leaders are working with the police to track down the recruitment agency and stop the trafficking of women for sex trade in Malaysia.

The same agency is believed to be shipping at least 100 more Filipino women to Malaysia before Christmas, said the pastor.

“When they got there, they were sold three times,” the pastor told reporters at the airport. “They were locked up and were made to have sex with four to eight men a day. One of them even got pregnant, but she was forced to have an abortion,” Pastor James said, fuming as he related what the women had told him.

The women were virtually held prisoners in a Kota Kinabalu condominium where they were housed. They were forced every night to have sex with clients against their will.

On December 5, after a chance meeting with a JIL member in the same building where they stayed, the women mustered the courage to flee.

Circumstances of their escape were unclear as they refused to talk to media, but by Pastor James’ account, the women fled the building that same night.

“They jumped from the first floor [elevated level] of the condominium and ran to cars that JIL members [in Kota Kinabalu] sent to fetch them,” the pastor said.

The women were brought to the JIL outreach church in Kota Kinabalu, their sanctuary while gangs tried to track them down, said Pastor James. To ensure their safety, the church was kept locked.

JIL eventually contacted the Philippine embassy through Pedro Chan, the Philippine Consul General in Italy, who told Philippine officials in Malaysia about the women’s plight. Sought out by Villanueva, Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn also got in touch with the Kota Kinabalu mayor to help out.

After a few days, Pastor James finished arranging for their travel documents since the women’s passports were seized by the syndicate.

Hagedorn paid for their flight from Kota Kinabalu to Cebu City. JIL then shouldered their fare to Manila. - Tarra Quismundo, Inquirer, December 14, 2007

Sabah issue dead, says Malaysian exec

MANILA, Philippines—In a rare policy statement on the Philippines’ long-standing but dormant claim on Sabah, Malaysia’s top foreign official said that as far as he was concerned, there was no need for further negotiations.

“I think the question of negotiation should not arise as we resolved this matter in 1963 when Malaysia was formed,” Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri was quoted as saying by the pro-government daily, The Star, on Friday.

Rahim, however, conceded there were mechanisms to amicably settle disputes such as the Sabah claim within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which both the Philippines and Malaysia are members.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to comment on Rahim’s statement, which was also posted on The Star’s website (thestar.com.my).

Part of Sulu

Sabah is currently counted among the 13 states of Malaysia. The Philippines has a claim to the territory based on the contention that it was once part of the Sultanate of Sulu and had been merely leased to Sabah’s former colonizer, Great Britain, in 1878.

According to the article, Rahim was interviewed in Sabah’s capital, Kota Kinabulu, during the launch of the foreign ministry’s nationwide “Information Dissemination and Public Diplomacy” program there.

Rahim was asked to comment on calls by a local political group, Parti Bersatu Sabah (Sabah United Party), to include state leaders in a negotiating team to get Manila to drop the claim “once and for all.”

Rahim said the Philippine claim was based on a “civil agreement” that was “superseded” by the desire of the people of Sabah to join the Malaysian federation. Malaysia was formed by the union in 1963 of the Federation of Malaya and the then British crown colonies of North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak.

The official was apparently referring to the lease agreement between Britain and the Sultanate of Sulu, in accordance with which the heirs of the last sultan continue to received “cession,” “rent” payment, now about 5,300 Malaysian ringgit (P77,000) a year.

Rahim said that in 1963, the Cobbold Commission, formed by the British and Malayan governments, determined that about two-thirds of Sabah residents wanted to join Malaysia. A United Nations mission sent to Borneo held a poll and made a similar finding. The Federation of Malaysia was established soon after.

Feud between heirs

The Philippine government, then under President Diosdado Macapagal, questioned the inclusion of Sabah in the new federation.

The issue has continually been a sore point in Philippine-Malaysian relations.

The Philippine government’s claim has been complicated by feud between the Sabah heirs. There are at least three claimants to the sultan’s throne.

In 2002, President Macapagal-Arroyo met with one faction of the feuding heirs and instructed the DFA to help them establish their “proprietary rights” over Sabah.

In the 1960s, President Ferdinand Marcos created a military face composed of Muslim youths to forcibly take the island. The invasion did not go through after the Muslims were killed by their own commanders after the young men discovered the true objective of their training. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, December 15, 2008

Valedictory Address of an OFW in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia- Ophel Belo is the valedictorian for 2007 at the recently concluded graduation ceremonies of the Filipino Workers' Resource Center Skills Training Program (FWRC-STP) here in Kuala Lumpur. Although she never became my student at FWRC-STP, I was fortunate enough to work with her during the center's numerous events. She's quiet but efficient, unassuming yet smart. Despite her brilliance, she is working as a domestic helper here in KL.

In her valedictory address, Ophel had a lot to say about the sad state our country is in. - Myrna Ordonez

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS by Ms. Ophelia A. Belo

Excellencies, Ambassadors Lecaros and Brillantes, Mrs. Lecaros, Labatt JBJ and Mrs. Jimenez, Faculty Advisers, Embassy Officials, Filcom Leaders, Malaysian Nationals, Princess Becky, Datu Lim Sun Hoe and Datu Sunny Lim, Honorees, Guests, Fellow Students and Graduates, Friends Countrymen and Visitors, Good Afternoon,

I thank God for this honor and I express gratitude to my country and government for this opportunity. I accept this distinction with both joy and sadness. There is joy in my heart right now because once again I have proven that there is a reward for hard work, dedication, and excellence. But I am sad right at this moment, I am sad for our country and for our people. I am sad for you fellow graduates. And I am sad for myself.

I am sad that the Philippines, the homeland of brilliant, highly skilled and very articulate people, is now becoming the number one supplier of cheap labor including domestic helpers into the booming world of global markets. We can kid ourselves by saying there's nothing wrong in being a domestic helper. Oh come on! I am a domestic helper myself and I'm not ashamed to be so. But then, what?

I am looking at the big picture and I am looking at our country and I am disappointed that there is not much hope if we remain there. I am regretful that every single day, no less than 3,200 Filipinos are leaving the Philippines, many of them for good, in the hope of finding jobs that can send our children to school, buy medicines for our sick, repair our dilapidated shanties or pay for all our indebtedness.

What happened to the Philippines?

Our country is supposed to be the Pearl of the Orient Seas. In 1961, many Malaysians used to envy the Filipinos. They dreamt of study in UP, La Salle or Ateneo. Today, Malaysians are the employers of Filipino domestic helpers. They have sent an astronaut into space, while the Filipinos are still quarrelling about government contracts and alleged rigging of elections.

We, the OFWs must begin the process of the renewal for our country. The FWRC is our center of excellence to be able to compete globally and turn around our country.

The global labor markets are unforgiving. The avalanche of rising demands for quality comes rushing every single moment and the standards of excellence keep on rising without pause. Only those who never stop learning will survive in this crazy and mind-boggling competition for skills.

Filipino engineers and technicians in IT who surf the cyberspaces for emerging opportunities find themselves competing with highly competent Indian computer wizards. Indians are also emerging as our OFW's top competitors in the global labor markets.

Our oil and gas engineers are still preferred by Malaysian employers because the local chemical and mechanical engineers prefer to work in UK and in the Middle East. This is the result of globalization of human capital.

Our domestic helpers from the Philippines are still the preferred ones by Malaysian royalty, high government officials and top businessmen. But the Filipino domestics represent only a miniscule 2% of the entire DH market in Malaysia, Indonesia commands more than 90% of the 500,000 household service providers in this country.

The Philippine government is aiming for QUALITY employment, however. We frown upon QUANTITY or high volume of 5 D's: the jobs that are DIRTY, DIFFICULT, DANGEROUS, DEMEANING and DECEPTIVE.

Even if the Filipina DHs are only few, they enjoy superior benefits. They enjoy Sunday day-offs every week or at least every another week with the two Sundays paid for when they are not allowed to go. They have much higher pay and better terms and conditions of employment. They are allowed to study in the FWRC Skills Training Program.

The Filipino household service workers, along with other OFWs do study in FWRC. They learn word processing, spreadsheet, Internet, illustration, Photoshop, Autocad and multiple computer applications.

They study Commercial Baking, Advanced Cake Decorating, Western Food Cooking, Basic Nursing, Reflexology and Arts and Crafts. They even learn the Art of Communication, Composition and Correspondences, Business and Social Correspondences, Financial Management, Business Development and Entrepreneurship.

The Labor Attache and top Embassy Officials teach BLAWSFIL (Basic Labor Laws for Filipino, a subject created by Labat JBJ as a means for empowerment, to arm the OFWs with fundamental knowledge of the labor and family laws, immigration and even contract laws and criminal statutes. The migrant workers from the Philippines are aware of their rights as well as obligations to employers and host government. They have less chance of being arrested and detained and they are more confident when confronted with legal issues.

OFWs from Malaysia who are now venturing to UK like Lyn dela Rama and Gene Sarmiento, both outstanding FWRC alumnae, have better chances of survival and even excellence in more challenging work environments. Former FWRC resource persons like Dang Penarubia who migrated to Canada have better probability of success than others who went without

FWRC KASH (Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits).

Today, the 21st of October, here in the Grand Ballroom of Crown Princess Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, few shall graduate those among the 490 who enrolled in January survived the grueling holistic training in FWRC. Today, the word GRADUATION should be understood as a process, not an end, a process of enhancing elevating, improving and developing the KASH positions of the OFW who made the correct decision to study in FWRC.

Today also a COMMENCEMENT, a starting point, a beginning, a point of embarkation to a higher level of consciousness, to a better perspective in life, a much improved point of view and a stronger, higher quality of qualification, a better state of readiness, an empowered new beginning of the rest of our lifetime journey.

The quest for excellence, the drive to win the global labor markets, the hunger for bigger challenges, the thirst for learning – an insatiable yearning to learn more -- these are the hallmarks of men and women who are geared and programmed for success in life.

The next motto of FWRC is "ON TO THE MARCH FOR EXCELLENCE," both in skills and in Character. Both committed and competent. Thus, today is indeed a day for celebration. But after the celebration, we need to do something for our country.

And so today, ladies and gentlemen, what are we going to do to create a meaningful difference in the future of our country? Evil triumphs because good men do nothing. Let us all do something, no matter how small.

FIRST, let us not remit everything that we earn here. Let us save at least 50% through the Samahang Impok Bayan and keep it until we go home for good.

SECOND, let us all take courses in the FWRC that will help us in our reintegration like Business Management, Entrepreneurship Accounting, Basic Laws and other relevant courses. Indeed it is only when we bring EXCELLENCE THAT WE CAN TO THE GLOBAL WORLD.

THIRD, let us all write to our congressmen, let us write to our newspaper, let us e-mail jour opinions and let us be active in denouncing the abuses of our political leaders.

FOURTH, let us rally behind honest and hardworking officials and staff in government but let us denounce and expose and charge all those who violate their oaths as public servants.

FIFTH, let us help in the FWRC. Whatever honor we receive today should provide us an inspiration to share our knowledge with other OFWs.

SIXTH, let us discipline our families at home. They should learn to value our remittances and not squander them in luxuries. Let us let them learn that we worked hard for the money and we should not tolerate extravagances.

SEVENTH, let us all be aware of all the economic, social and political developments in our country. Let us monitor what are the trends and programs of our country's future. And let us share our thoughts with those who spend our remittances.

AND lastly number EIGHT, let us all be aware that all that were, all that are and all that will be in the Philippines are driven by economic realities, high population growth, labor excess economy, cheap labor, globalization without safety nets, insufficient social services. All these are exacerbating the pain and suffering of our people.

These are the reasons why the joy of my success today is eclipsed by the sadness in our situation as a nation and as a people.

We've got to feel the pain so that we will do something about it. We cannot continue deluding ourselves. We have to face realities and bite the bullet.

According to a great social scientist: THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE DISCONTENTED. The Filipinos should start to be discontented with our situation and tell our leaders of our discontentment.

According to a Chinese Philosopher: IT IS CRAZY TO EXPECT DIFFERENT RESULTS IF WE CONTINUE TO REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES. The Filipinos should accept that there are for too many mistakes and we have to correct them.

And according to Dr. Jose Rizal in his NOLI ME TANGERE, recorded in the history of human sufferings is a cancer of so malignant a character that the least touch irritates it.

Since the time of Rizal until now more than a century after, the cancer is still here -- a SOCIAL CANCER, AN ECONOMIC MALADY.

The only difference is that we can do something about it. Yes we can. And we should. “No matter how strait the gate and how charged with punishment the scroll, we are the masters of our fate. We are the captain of our souls,” to borrow from Invictus.

Kaya mga kababayan, dapat umpisahan na ang pagbabago, umpisahan sa ating sarili. Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa? Kung hindi tayo and mag-uumpisa, sino pa? Bahala tayo sa ating kinabukasan at bahala tayo sa kinabukasan ng ating bansa Pakaisipin ninyo ito. Huwag kayong masyadong magsaya. Dapat magkaroon din kayo ng lungkot, upang magsikap kayong magbago. Dahil ang mga problema ay hindi nakakatuwa.

Marami pong salamat.

Forwarded by Alfredo Roces

INQUIRER.net, November 07, 2007

Malaysia bans hiring of foreign workers

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia has banned the hiring of foreign workers in factories, stores and restaurants to protect its citizens from mass unemployment amid the global economic downturn, a government official said Thursday.

The government has also ordered companies to lay off foreign employees first if they must slash their work force, a Human Resources Ministry official said.

The Cabinet has approved an indefinite hiring ban for the key manufacturing and services sectors, which currently employ nearly half of the 2.1 million legal foreign workers in Malaysia, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

The official was confirming a decision announced late Wednesday by Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam.

Local media reported the minister as saying Malaysia "can put a stop to hiring" foreign workers if they are not needed.

Foreigners currently working in both sectors can continue until their contracts expire or until they are laid off, but no new non-Malaysian workers will be approved, the official said.

"We want to make sure that all locals who have been [laid off] can get a new job," he said.

The official said exemptions might be given to skilled foreign workers who are needed for some of country's service industries and factories, most of which produce electronic and electrical goods, textiles and furniture.

More than 10,000 Malaysians and 3,000 foreigners lost their jobs between October and January because of a slowdown in Malaysia's export-dependent economy. The government has predicted another 45,000 Malaysians could be out of work by the end of the year.

Foreigners can still be hired in sectors such as plantations and construction, where it is tough to find Malaysians to employ because of the low salaries and arduous work, the official said.

Eka Suripto, an official at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said Indonesia expects one-third of its 300,000 nationals working in Malaysia's manufacturing industry to lose their jobs this year.

"Certainly what they will sacrifice first are the foreign migrants," he said.

Adding to the number of legal foreign workers, there are an estimated one million illegal migrants employed mainly at plantations, construction sites and restaurants. Most come from poorer Asian nations such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

Malaysia's government has struggled to assure the public that the country won't slip into recession. Authorities have forecast that Malaysia's economy will expand by 3.5 percent in 2009, but some economists have warned that growth could fall below 2 percent. - Associated Press (inquirer.net), January 22, 2009

Anti-human traffic pact with Malaysia sought

MANILA, Philippines—A non-government organization advocating migrant workers' welfare urged the government on Thursday to forge an anti-human trafficking agreement with Malaysia following the rescue of Filipino women forced to become prostitutes in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center quoted recent media reports from Malaysia relating how the eight Filipino women, allegedly recruited from Zamboanga about three months ago to work as waitresses, were forced to work as prostitutes upon their arrival in arrival in Sabah.

Acting on an informant’s tip, the police raided an apartment in Penampang, a small town adjacent to the capital city of Kota Kinabalu, where the women, aged between 18 and 25, were kept.

“The illegal recruitment and trafficking of Filipino women to Malaysia is fast becoming a thriving enterprise and we call on the Malaysian and Philippine governments to forge a bilateral pact against human trafficking,” the center's president Susan Ople said in a statement.

Ople said that based on the information gathered by the Center, previous victims of human trafficking were promised decent jobs in either Kuala Lumpur or Sabah by their recruiters who turned out to be receiving P3,000 per head from a syndicate in Malaysia.

“With mere P3,000, the recruiter turns a blind eye on whatever fate awaits the recruit bound for Malaysia,” she said.

The former labor undersecretary said local governments must also work together with other NGOs and relevant government agencies in a grassroots public information drive against human trafficking.

“The recruitment is now done door-to-door in both urban and rural areas and the only way to stop this is through active public vigilance leading to higher arrest and conviction rates,” she added.

The center said the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has been doing its best to help human trafficking victims and other Filipinos detained for lack of work permits “but the tide of human misery keeps rising.”

The NGO called on the government to focus on job creation and livelihood training particularly in the countryside in order to provide viable options for economic survival.

“We must fight as one country against human traffickers who deploy our women as modern slaves not only to Malaysia but to nearly every nook and corner of the globe,” Ople said. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 21, 2008

3 OFWs forced into prostitution in Malaysia

Victims seek repatriation

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines -- Three female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who alleged that the owner of a reflexology center in Malaysia forced them to take drugs and have sex with clients, have sought the help of a Bohol lawmaker for their repatriation.

Through text messages sent to the office of Bohol First District Representative Edgar Chatto, the three OFWs said they wanted be repatriated "as soon as possible" as they feared that they "might not be able to return home alive" because of their dangerous situation in Malaysia.

They claimed that their well-connected employer threatened to torture them if they refused to take drugs or have sex with clients.

In her latest text message, one of the OFWs disclosed that they had not received their salary.

One of the three OFWs also recalled that she and her two friends entered Malaysia as "tourists" although they were assured that they could work there.

However, the owner of the reflexology center did not process their working permits when they entered Malaysia.

They gave their full names and addresses in the Philippines but they asked that their identities be kept confidential to protect their honor and that of their respective families. They also gave their roaming mobile numbers.

They also gave the full name of their Malaysian boss and his business address but they also asked that the information be kept off the record for now.

Chatto, who is currently in the United States, has started contacting the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the families of the three migrant workers.

He said he would check with the Department of Labor and Employment to trace the deployment of the three OFWs.

Chatto authored House Bill 5649, a measure seeking to improve standards of protection and assistance for migrant workers, and House Bill 4898, a legislation creating an OFW pension fund. - Kit Bagaipo, Inquirer Visayas, April 20, 2009

A review badly needed

http://www.thesundaily.com
---------------------------
By: (Mon, 29 Jun 2009)


ALTHOUGH the Indonesian government’s decision last week to temporarily stop sending domestic workers to this country will cause significant discomfort to potential employers, the moratorium provides an excellent opportunity for Malaysian regulators to review their stance towards Indonesian maids.

According to news reports, there are 300,000 Indonesian maids in this country. Indonesia’s Manpower and Transmigration Ministry says 3,000 Indonesians leave the country every month to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia. This underscores the number of households in this country affected by Jakarta’s decision.

Leaving aside the suggestion that Malaysians are becoming far too dependent on foreign maids, three issues need to be addressed.

First is the huge discrepancy in wages paid to Indonesian maids compared with that for their Filipino counterparts. According to Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president, Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, Filipino maids in this country are paid RM1,000 compared with more than RM500 earned by Indonesian maids.

What justification is there for paying a Filipino maid almost double that for an Indonesian? Is it because Filipinos can speak English and are more suitable for employment in non-Muslim households?

I believe Filipino maids are also better paid because of Manila’s insistence on minimum wages and other conditions of work.

Even so, does this justify paying an Indonesian about half that for a Filipino maid? If Filipino maids should enjoy a premium, I suggest this should be capped at a reasonable level – possibly 10% or 15%.

Because wages for domestic workers from Indonesia and other countries like Bangladesh are so low, even hawkers can afford to hire foreigners to man their stalls. Why should hawkers be allowed to employ foreign domestic workers? Not surprisingly, this has led to a worsening quality of char kway teow, chicken rice and other hawker food.

Furthermore, low wages could cause Malaysian employers to under-value their foreign domestic workers and in extreme cases, this may lead to severe abuse of foreign maids.

Malaysian policymakers should consider this: why is it that almost all cases of appalling abuse involve Indonesian maids?

Another point to note is the growing number of Indonesians venturing further to work as maids. In Hongkong, Indonesian maids enjoy monthly salaries of HK$3,000 (RM1,500) or more – about three times that in Malaysia.

Some Indonesian maids that I have met in the territory speak impeccable Cantonese. This suggests language and other cultural differences are not a major stumbling block for determined Indonesians.

Second is the Malaysian government’s proposal to make it mandatory for employers to allow foreign maids a day off. This move is long overdue.

Some Malaysians have written to the press to highlight their concern that if Indonesian maids were allowed a day off, they could mix with undesirable company, form undesirable relationships, indulge in unhealthy activities, become dissatisfied with their employers and run away.

Again the comparison is with Filipino maids. Although Filipino maids are given a mandatory day off every week, why hasn’t this prompted them to become dissatisfied with their employers and run away in large numbers?

Some may argue because there are more than 1.2 million Indonesians legally in this country (and possibly another 800,000 here illegally), allowing Indonesian maids a day off poses additional risks compared to those from other countries.

If so, policymakers should consider sourcing of maids from other countries like China. Wanita MCA has strongly urged Putrajaya not to allow women from China to work as maids in this country because they could break up families by seducing husbands.

The Wanita MCA’s suggestion is untenable. If some Malaysian Chinese women are insecure about the fidelity of their husbands, they aren’t compelled to hire maids from China. Why should these women be allowed to deny other Malaysians the opportunity to employ mainland Chinese as maids?

Third is the issue of greater legal protection for foreign domestic workers. As Caram Asia, a regional network representing non-governmental organisations, has pointed out, because maids are defined as “servants” under the Employment Act, they are denied all statutory benefits except the right to sue for unpaid wages.

I believe changing the legal status of domestic helpers could encourage an improvement in mindset. Instead of regarding their foreign maids as servants, employers would be encouraged to treat them as employees.

Employers must be made to realise that unless working conditions are improved significantly and immediately, Malaysia will quickly become the destination of last resort, not only for Indonesians but also for Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Cambodians and all those in the region who seek to improve their economic prospects.

Opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the writer and should not be attributed to any organisation she is connected with. She can be contacted at siokchoo.nsamail@gmail.com.

--- end ---

Malaysia to look elsewhere for maids

IF INDONESIA BAN STAYS

INQUIRER.net
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 10:55:00 06/28/2009

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—The government here said it could turn to other neighboring countries to recruit maids if Indonesia continues to ban its nationals from coming here to work as domestic helpers.

Indonesian labor minister Erman Suparno said Thursday his country would stop sending domestic helpers to Malaysia at least until a mid-July bilateral meeting in Kuala Lumpur to discuss a new migrant worker agreement.

It comes after a 43-year-old Malaysian woman was charged earlier this month with causing grievous bodily harm to an Indonesian woman she employed as a maid, allegedly beating her with a cane and dousing her with boiling water.

But Malaysia's human resources minister S. Subramaniam told state media late Saturday it would have been better had Indonesia explored all avenues of discussion before taking its action.

"If the decision (to temporarily ban maids) is final, then we will decide on the best option available, like looking at the possibility of getting domestic helpers from other Asean (Association of Southeast Asian) countries," he told state news agency Bernama.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged earlier Saturday that tough action would be taken against anyone abusing Indonesian maids, urging employers to take greater interest in their welfare.

"We have to take stern action under the law against those who abuse maids," Najib told reporters.

Subramaniam said an average of 50 maid abuse cases were reported annually out of the 300,000 Indonesian maids working in Malaysia.

Malaysia has no laws governing the working conditions for domestic workers but has promised to draft legislation to protect them from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages, and poor conditions.

About 1.2 million documented Indonesians are in Malaysia, with illegals estimated to number about 800,000.

Gov’t help sought for 15 OFWs in Sabah

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:58:00 06/19/2009

MANILA, Philippines—Fifteen Filipino workers are being kept in slave-like conditions in a palm oil plant in Sabah and are asking the Philippine government for help, according to groups that conducted a fact-finding mission there.

According to the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrant Workers (APMM) and the Gabriela party list, the 15 workers of Hoy Chan Plantations in Jalan Jeroco, Sabah are also at risk of dying of hunger after their employer stopped them from getting food from the company store.

The OFWs have been in the company from December 2008 and March 2009. They are Joenel Caro, Roland Casis, Nelio Casquejo, Ruben Cortel, Moisis Cortel, Michael Duran, John Mark Libuna, Vicente Libuna, Rene Lim, Ariel Lorena, Ian Rey Lorena, Butch Pastolero, Quizy Pastolero, Romeo Pedregosa, and Zandro Camda. They started work at the company at different times between December 2008 and March 2009.

They said no Philippine government agency was attending to the plight of the 15 undocumented OFWs.

Gabriela party list Representative Luz Ilagan, who joined the mission in Sandakan, Sabah and Kota Kinabalu, said the OFWs are victims of “bonded slavery” because their situation: They are being held by the employers, they are required to work more hours than legally allowed, they are paid very low wages, and they do not have any social security benefits, among others.

And the APMM agreed. “The employer should be investigated for practicing bonded labor. Such kind of practice which is akin to slavery is prohibited under international law,” it said.

Ilagan also pointed out another complication to the situation of the 15 workers, and those in similar dire straits. She said Sabah, which is claimed by both the Philippines and Malaysia, does not have a Philippine government office which could attend to Filipino workers.

“The problem is the structure is not clear as who should assist these workers. We don’t have an embassy in Sabah because of the claims dispute of the land,” she said in a phone interview.

She said most workers in Sabah’s palm oil plantations have stayed there beyond the limit allowed by the Malaysian government because they could not afford the renewal fee of their passport.

In a separate statement, the international workers' alliance Migrante urged the Arroyo administration to send a rescue mission to the 15 workers being held in the palm oil plantation.

“The OFWs are being held against their will without any food in retaliation for their refusal to work due to inhuman conditions in the plantation. The OFWs are calling for help and needs government intervention so that they can be repatriated back to the Philippines,” said Garry Martinez, Migrante International chairman.

ITUC OnLine : Spotlight interview with G. Rajasekaran (Malaysia – MTUC)

"By helping migrant workers, we are also helping Malaysian workers"

INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC)
ITUC OnLine
096/110609

Brussels, 11 June 2009 (ITUC OnLine): How is the economic crisis affecting the large migrant population in Malaysia? G. Rajasekaran, general secretary of the MTUC (1), talks about trade union initiatives designed to help them. He also denounces the exploitation suffered by domestic workers, a particularly vulnerable category of migrants.

How widespread is the phenomenon of migration in Malaysia, and what is the MTUC's policy on this issue?

We now have two million migrant workers in Malaysia, from 20 different countries. Around a million of them come from Indonesia. The second largest group comes from Bangladesh, totalling around 300,000 migrants, followed by Nepal. Of these two million migrants, 300,000 are domestic workers, most of whom are women.

We believe that the recruitment of migrant labour should be based on labour requirements. The country should not be flooded with migrant workers, as we have noted that this tends to undermine pay and working conditions, as well as exacerbating the exploitation of migrants. The agencies that send migrants are very active; they send as many as they can because they obtain large sums of money from these workers.

Has the global economic crisis had any impact on the employment of migrants in Malaysia?

Government statistics show that since the beginning of the crisis in October 2008 until just a few days ago, some 30,000 workers have lost their jobs in Malaysia, out of an active population of 11.2 million people. Around two thirds of these 30,000 job losses have affected Malaysians, and the other third migrants.

Since the onset of the economic slowdown, we have been telling the government that it should freeze all new work permits, and that's what it has done. Some of our colleagues from the sending countries see this measure as a breach of their rights, but I see it as precisely the opposite, because if migrants are brought to Malaysia only to be told three months down the road that the companies do not need so many workers and that they should go back home, it's worse. Having said that, migrants are still coming, legally and illegally. Some are still arriving legally as they had been granted permits beforehand but had not come straight away. It's going to create problems, as companies are not recruiting.

At the end of 2008/ beginning of 2009, hundreds of Bangladeshi boat people were set adrift on the high seas by the Thai navy whilst trying to reach Malaysia clandestinely. Many died. Is there not a risk that by failing to issue new work permits Malaysia will encourage more of these desperate attempts to enter the country illegally?

According to government statistics, aside from the two million migrant workers with their papers in order, there are around a million without papers, most of whom are Indonesian. It would be better if these clandestine immigration candidates stayed in their home country, where they have a place to live at least. When you go to a foreign country and you don't have a job or a place to live, you end up sleeping under a bridge, which is much worse. Many of them think that they will be able to find a job one way or another once they get to Malaysia, but in times like these there are very few opportunities.

What kind of services does the MTUC offer migrants?

We have two full-time officers helping domestic workers in the main, as part of a project supported by the Dutch union FNV. For two years now we have also been involved in another project for all migrant workers with funding from the LO-TCO union. Migrant workers can come to us to talk about their problems. The most common complaint is about non-respect for the salary they were promised before leaving their country. Some of them come to see us with the contract signed in their country of origin, which stipulates a higher salary. We go to the Labour Ministry to support the demands of workers whose contracts are violated in this way, but the ministry's response is that agreements signed abroad cannot be enforced in Malaysia. We are pressing the government to ensure recognition of these contracts, but it has not done so yet.

We also receive complaints from workers telling us that they have not received their wages for several months. Their employers give them 20-30 ringgits (4-6 euros) from time to time, just enough to survive on, and ask them to sign a document acknowledging receipt of these small sums, but the amount is not written on it at the time. We also turn to the Labour Ministry in such instances, but the documents signed by these workers makes it difficult for us to advance our case as the employers argue that they had already paid the full amount when the document was signed.

These projects have given us a clearer picture of what is happening on the ground and have allowed us to gather statistics on the number of people mistreated by their employers. We submit this data to the government, thanks to which we have been able to obtain some improvements.

Do collective bargaining agreements apply to migrant workers?

Our policies is that even if a migrant workers has signed an individual contract, wherever there is a union and a collective agreement, the latter applies to everyone, including migrants. We are managing to implement this MTUC policy but it has become increasingly difficult since the government introduced a system of supplying labour, two years ago, and issued around 270 licences for what it calls outsourcing companies. We call them labour traffickers, who extract money from migrants and employers. These outsourcers do not operate in any particular sector, but they are the migrant workers' official employer; they are not employed by the company where they work. The problem here is knowing what union to join, as Malaysian unions are organised along sectoral lines. Outsourcing also means that the collective agreement signed with the company does not apply to these migrants, even though they work there.

What specific actions are you taking to assist domestic workers?

One of our key demands is that domestic workers should have at least one day off a week. There are many other grievances regarding these workers, but we want to make this step forward first, because most domestic workers live almost like prisoners. They get to Malaysia, are taken straight to their employer's home and are then cut off from any contact with the outside world. They cannot go out and complain if they have a problem, even if their wages are not paid. The fight for one day off a week is not only linked to the fact that they should be recognised as human beings who need a break; it is also about allowing them to meet other people, to learn more about their rights and to find help if they have a problem.

Many migrant domestic workers also come to see us to complain about the food they receive. There are many complaints about employers who have businesses, often a restaurant, where they take their domestics after they have finished in the house and make them work until late at night.

None of the labour laws apply to domestic workers, as they are not recognised as workers by law, be they migrants or Malaysian. We are pressing the government to change this.

And then there are all the cases where employers hold on to their passports...

Yes, even though it is illegal to hold another person's travel documents in Malaysia. When we raise this issue with the government, its response is that if the employer takes them away for safe keeping with the employee's consent, the authorities cannot interfere. So employers make their workers sign a document asking them to keep their passports in a safe place and to return it to them when they leave the country. Many domestic workers are not able to read and, in any case, rarely have a chance to refuse.

Does the situation of migrant domestic workers vary according to their nationality?

Filipino domestic workers have a clear contract stipulating their working hours, living conditions, days leave and the minimum wage, etc. In their case, the minimum wage is currently 1,200 ringgits (250 euros) whilst Indonesians only receive 450 to 500 ringgits (94 to 105 euros). It would seem that the Philippine government has a serious interest in protecting its migrants, unlike the Indonesian government.

Only 15,000 out of the 300,000 domestic workers in Malaysia are Filipino. The rest are chiefly Indonesians who come here through recruiters. The employers contact an agent who asks for 8,000 ringgits (1,670 euros), a large sum of money that they can then deduct from the domestic worker's wage for around six months. So, if she gets 500 ringgits a month, she will have only reimbursed 3,000 ringgits to her employer by the end of six months. It's extremely unfair, as it means they have to work 16 hours a day, every day, without any pay.

The crisis will probably make things even worse for domestic workers, who are particularly vulnerable...

No, because their situation cannot get any worse, they are always treated in the worst possible way. There are, of course, some employers who treat their domestic as if she were part of the family, but they are rare.

It is astonishing to see how badly domestic workers are treated by employers who are often ordinary workers themselves...

It is inconsiderate; they never put themselves in their shoes. When we say that a domestic worker does a 15-hour day, the employer sees it differently: for him, sweeping up and cleaning the house are not very arduous tasks. They don't understand that people need time for themselves, on Sundays, for example. According to the employer's way of seeing things, if they leave the house and meet other people their minds will be corrupted by other ideas and they will no longer work in the same way.

If the ILO adopts a new international convention on domestic work, would it help the MTUC in the fight to protect domestic workers?

Yes, because Malaysia usually respects international conventions; it does not like having international bodies calling its attention to situations where it allows exploitation. So we hope that this new convention will be adopted but, unfortunately, we would only start to see the benefits in another two years: the debate will be launched in 2010 and if an agreement is reached, the convention will not come into being until 2011. In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to take this campaign into as many homes as possible, so that they do something on their own initiative, such as giving one day off a week. I have suggested to the NGOs linked to religious movements that they should ask the priests, the imams, and so on, to talk about these social issues. If more and more households move in this direction, the government will find it easier to back laws in this area.

How are your partnerships on migrants going with non-Malaysia unions (2)?

We have established a partnership with the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (CITU). The CITU has to try to meet as many people as possible before their departure to tell them about their rights and where they can go if they have a problem (to the MTUC, for example), etc. However, Indonesia is a very large country and many migration candidates do not have time to talk to their union before leaving. The union itself does not have the infrastructures or the human resources needed to reach all these candidates, who are in their millions.

We also communicate with the CITU regarding problems encountered by Indonesian workers in Malaysia, so that they can follow up on them with their own government. Until now, we have noticed that the Indonesian embassy shows little interest when we contact it over problems encountered by migrant workers, unlike the Philippine embassy.

We are also cooperating with the Nepalese union GEFONT, although we have not actually signed a formal agreement with it. It informs us when Nepalese migrants come up against problems in Malaysia, and we do the same so that GEFONT can bring it to its government's attention.

What kind of regional policy could be drawn up by trade unions to effectively meet the challenges raised, like in Malaysia, by this essentially regional migration?

The ITUC regional organisation for Asia-Pacific (ITUC-AP) could play a larger role in coordinating the work on migration in the region, and it has committed to doing so. The MTUC can help migrant workers who come to Malaysia, but we cannot solve the problem of the large sums of money they have to pay before leaving their countries. We need the help of the unions from their countries of origin to do this. The ITUC-AP could push them in this direction, as they are all affiliated to the ITUC, with the exception of Vietnam, which also sends migrants to Malaysia (but the MTUC has very good relations with the Vietnamese General Confederation of Labour).

What impact does working on migration issues have on the image of the MTUC?

Fifteen years ago, many people wondered why we should worry about all these people who contribute to keeping wages low, etc. Over the last seven or eight years, we have worked hard towards changing this attitude among unions and our members. We explain that if migrants obtain a permit to come to Malaysia, we have to do everything we can to ensure that they enjoy the same rights as the nationals. The cost per worker should be the same for all. People are starting to fully understand the importance of this approach. When we asked the government to put a freeze on all new permits following the economic crisis, our members realised that whilst the MTUC helps migrants, it also does everything it can to ensure that Malaysian workers are protected.

Are some companies calling collective agreements into question because of the crisis?

Under our system, when a collective agreement is concluded, it remains valid for three years. Many employers are, however, trying to attack variable elements, such as cutting annual bonuses from two months' to one month's pay, for example. They cannot impose it unilaterally – there has to be an agreement with the social partners; otherwise, we could go before a labour court to have the clause of the agreement applied. So some companies come to us for help. When they are companies that have always been open to dialogue, that have always been generous with the workers during the good times, the unions are happy to help them during the bad times. However, if companies were making huge profits in the past but used the agreement providing for a bonus equal to two months' pay as a pretext for not giving any more, we also demand that the agreement be respected when the tables are turned.

Interview by Samuel Grumiau

(1) Malaysian Trades Union Congress

(2) Since 2006, the ITUC has been implementing a concrete "action plan" aimed at organising migrants more effectively, defending and promoting their rights and improving their working conditions, particularly through collective bargaining, and strengthening their involvement in the trade union movement. The ITUC is also promoting partnerships with NGOs and other civil society organisations working with migrants. Within the framework of boosting South/South solidarity, the ITUC has launched three partnership agreements between affiliates in the different regions with the support of LO-TCO Sweden. These three pilot projects involve Indonesia (SPSI) and Malaysia (MTUC), Senegal (CNTS) and Mauritania (CGTM), Nicaragua (CST,CUS, CUSa) and Costa Rica (CTRN). Information and support centres for migrant workers have been set up by a number of unions, including the MTUC in Malaysia. More information about the ITUC policy on migration and about the trade union experience in this area in Costa Rica can be found in the ITUC report, "Costa Rica: Helping Migrants Organise" (16 pages): http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/VS_Costa_Rica_EN.pdf

The ITUC represents 170 million workers in 312 affiliated national organisations from 157 countries. http://www.ituc-csi.org http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018.

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OFW raped, then jailed for adultery in UAE

MANILA, Philippines—An alliance of Filipino worker groups in the Middle East Monday called on the government to come to the aid of a Filipino woman who had complained that she was raped by her employer’s son but who ended up being jailed for adultery in the United Arab Emirates.

Migrante-Middle East said Wilma (not her real name) was languishing in the Ajman Central Jail in Dubai after she was charged with “sleeping with a man.”

“It’s really an unfortunate situation for her. This is usually what happens here to victims of sexual abuse because the perpetrator is clever enough to report the incident to the local police [and claim] that the victim had lured him and slept with him, offering herself, Migrante-Mideast regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said in a statement e-mailed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Monterona, who is based in Saudi Arabia, said Wilma’s plight was brought to Migrante’s attention by her distraught husband, who said she left for Dubai on March 27 after being hired as a hotel chambermaid.

The group passed on the information to Philippine Ambassador to UAE Libran Cabactulan.

Wilma had told her husband that she wanted to go home because she was given a job as a domestic, which was not what she expected. In her last text message on April 7, she said she had already told the recruitment agency of her intention to return home, the husband said in his letter to Migrante dated May 8.

Worried after not hearing from her for days, the husband and Wilma’s parents from Piddig, Ilocos Norte, contacted Wilma’s recruiter, the Manila-based Marvic Overseas Placement Agency.

On April 27, the agency informed the husband that Wilma had been raped by the son of her Arab employer.

“The agency said she was jailed because of ‘lying that she was raped,’ and that a medical exam proved [that she was not raped],” the husband said.

That night, he said, a sobbing Wilma finally contacted him using a pre-paid mobile phone, saying she was neglected by the agency. She confirmed that she was raped.

“We want to know what really happened to her and the status of her case. And more importantly, we want her brought back to the Philippines safe,” he said.

The husband also told Migrante that Wilma was scheduled to be arraigned without the benefit of a lawyer.

“In behalf of the husband and the family of Wilma, we are calling the attention of Philippine embassy officials to provide the needed assistance, most importantly, the hiring of a lawyer for her defense,” Monterona said.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong-based migrants’ welfare advocacy group said 17 Filipino workers at a palm oil plantation in Sabah, Malaysia, had called for help because deductions from their already-measly salaries had put them in debt bondage.

The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) said it relayed the plight of the Sabah OFWs to the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur on April 29 but received no response. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Posted date: May 12, 2009