Phnom Penh - The number of Cambodians granted Malaysian work visas has jumped fourfold to nearly 21,000 in the past two years, local media reported Tuesday.
Most work in Malaysia as domestic servants, amid growing concerns about their treatment from some employers.
The Phnom Penh Post newspaper said 5,300 visas were issued in 2008, and around 12,700 last year.
The deputy director of the Ministry of Labour's manpower department told the newspaper that the government wanted to boost labour migration, but was mindful that recruitment companies needed to behave ethically.
'The government has to take control of those recruitment firms and monitor whether they recruit legally or illegally,' Hou Vudthy said.
A number of Cambodian recruitment firms have been accused of abuses in recent months, including employing underage workers and sending them abroad. Under Malaysian law, domestic workers must be at least 21.
The head of the labour programme at the Community Legal Education Centre, a local NGO, said the rise in legal migrants highlighted the need to protect workers, some of whom have complained of abuses from unscrupulous employers.
Moeun Tola said the current system lacked even basic measures such as recording where workers were employed and housed.
'My concern is that protection mechanisms are working too slowly, slower than the needs of the workers in Malaysia,' he said. 'When people migrate illegally they can face a lot of violations, but even people who migrate legally face problems.'
The rise in Cambodians employed as domestic workers followed a dispute between Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia, which froze recruitment of its nationals after a series of abuse scandals.
Unemployment is widespread in Cambodia and worsened after the 2008 global economic crisis, which saw tens of thousands of garment workers lose their jobs in the country's key export earner.
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