Slave domestic workers

KL : Cambodia urged Malaysia's labor department to ban the importation of domestic workers into Malaysia. In Malaysia, due to the lack of protection for workers, there have been many incidents of workers being abused and forced into slavery.

Since 2009, when the neighboring country of Indonesia was banned from going to work as domestic workers in Malaysia due to labor crimes, tens of thousands of Cambodian women have been recruited to work as domestic workers in Malaysia.

According to official surveys, including more than 30,000 domestic workers who arrived this year, the total number of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia has reached more than 50,000.

The death of a Cambodian domestic worker that occurred in Malaysia a few months ago has yet to be identified. At the same time, a worker had to be rescued by the police from another illegal diversion and physical assault.

The "Tannaganita" organization, which is active in human rights, was able to rescue 41 Cambodian maids who were abused and tortured. They include children as young as 15 years old. He said that the workers have been fleeing for the past 6 months due to unfair torture and lack of wages.

"Nowadays, foreign domestic workers are facing unjust persecution because they have not been able to protect them from the truth. Cambodian domestic workers are being forced and forced into slavery."

Fernandez, the leader of the human rights organization, said.

The "Tannaganita" organization called on Cambodia to ban domestic workers in Malaysia until better laws are introduced to protect domestic workers.

In Southeast Asia, Malaysia is the country with the largest influx of foreign workers, with more than 200,000 Indonesian domestic workers. Families have maids to cook, to clean and children They are appointed to care for the elderly.

In May, Malaysia reached an official agreement to ban domestic workers from Indonesia in hopes of curbing the abuse of domestic workers.

"The Cambodian government is concerned about the abuse of its national workers and will deal with these issues through legal action," Cambodian Embassy official in Kuala Lumpur, "An Vanta", said.

The Cambodian maid who died in the past few months died of pneumonia, but the Cambodian embassy will investigate, police said.

The domestic worker who died was found dead outside her employer's house and was only 15 years old. Cambodian legislative officer "Musochou" revealed that her age of 22 was not correct as stated on her passport. According to Malaysian law, domestic workers must be at least 21 years old.

"We are already discussing the issue of child labor. We need to identify the person who intervened so that girls from poor families can falsify their lives in their passports."

The official said.

The police and immigration officials were unable to take immediate action on the maid's case.

The 41 Cambodian domestic workers who were helped by the "Tannaganita" organization were also under the age of 21. All 41 of them were working full-time and were not given a day off, and their passports were confiscated by their employers.

More than half of these 41 underage workers have physical, 15 were sexually assaulted while suffering emotional pain.

In order to get compensation and wages for them, the "Tannaganita" organization negotiated with the employers. Fernandez, the leader of the organization, said that because the children are depressed and anxious to go home, they will not solve the problem by calling the police.

(Translated from Bloomberg Businessweek.)