KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (Padang Rengas-BN) has urged the government to do away with middlemen in the hiring of foreign workers to minimise cases of forced labour and human trafficking.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, the maverick politician and former minister proposed that the country should instead deal directly with foreign governments on the issue of employment.
“Currently, we are hiring foreigners via agents, and this is the reason we are being targeted by the United States – accusing us of human trafficking.
“If we really need workers from a source country, what’s wrong with dealing directly with the government?” he said when debating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Amendment) Bill 2021 in Parliament today.
“This will ensure that they will be the ones doing the hiring, and we are able to take workers from institutions established by the respective governments. Otherwise, we will keep getting punished for the actions of agents.”
By requiring the source country to do the hiring, Nazri said this will ensure that only those who are truly qualified for the work would be sent abroad.
“They (foreign governments) have to take this responsibility. Now, we are using agents. They are the ones going to villages, duping people into selling their lands and paying bonds – but the one getting punished is us.”
Separately, Nazri proposed that local companies wishing to hire foreign workers do so themselves without involvement from the federal government.
“If they want 200 staff, then (they should) go find them themselves. Go to the country – like Bangladesh or the Philippines – and find the workers, at least our country won’t be blamed,” he said.
Nazri was responding to the latest US annual human trafficking report published in July that ranked Malaysia among 17 countries listed in the lowest tier, placing it alongside the likes of North Korea, China, Myanmar, and Venezuela.
The other countries in the bottom tier comprise Afghanistan, Algeria, Comoros, Cuba, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, South Sudan, Syria, and Turkmenistan.
Among the key reasons for the downgrade is the fact that Putrajaya has not fully met the minimum conditions to eliminate trafficking, as well as its failure to make substantial strides to correct previous mistakes.
“The government of Malaysia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, even considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity – therefore, Malaysia was downgraded to Tier 3,” the report read. – The Vibes, December 15, 2021
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