Phnom Penh Post
By Chhay Channyda and Abby Seiff
Women return to Cambodia after working in dire conditions as maids in Malaysia in 2012. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post
A lack of legal protections, insufficient commitment from the
Malaysian government and an overworked, understaffed embassy are among
the major obstacles to lifting the maid ban, according to an internal
government report obtained yesterday.
Penned by the Ministry of Interior, the 12-page brief details a two-day fact-finding mission undertaken in December.
During meetings with the Malaysian government, local NGOs,
recruitment agencies, maids, employers and Cambodian diplomats, the
21-member delegation sought to suss out the current situation.
In interviews with the 13 Cambodians living in rescue shelters, a
slew of abuses were recorded including: “sexual exploitation, human
trafficking, selling into to prostitution, syndicate[s], labour abuse,
withholding of salary and forced labour.”
In one particularly brutal case, “a maid who was the victim of violence was attacked with a scissor many times on her body.”
The report provides a rare, frank glimpse at the state of affairs in
Malaysia, where a moratorium on sending new domestic labourers has been
in place since October 2011 amid mounting concerns over rights abuses.
During meetings between the delegation – which included officials
from the ministries of Labour, Women’s Affairs, and Justice, as well as
police and military police – and its Malaysian counterparts, the latter
sought to downplay problems, even as Cambodian officials urged reform.
“[Syuhaida Binti Abdul Wabhab Zen, deputy undersecretary of
Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs] accepted there are abuses and
exploitation on maids, but said cases were few if compared to the number
of workers who get benefits from their jobs. She said that
anti-government media and NGOs are exaggerating the situation.”
“Even though the number of victim cases are small if compared with
the more than 30,000 workers in Malaysia, it should still not happen
anymore,” responded Interior Ministry Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng,
who led the joint government-civil society delegation.
“[While Malaysian laws are strong] in practice, there are some
loopholes, so there are abuses. Cambodia requested Malaysian government
to help rescue and protect Cambodian labourers who received physical,
sexual and mental abuses as well as exploitation to their salary,” the
report continued.
Recruiting companies, meanwhile, took a similar line, blaming media
and NGOs for offering misleading information. A representative from the
Malaysian Association of Employment Agencies told the delegation they
have lost approximately $7 million since the moratorium and urged the
Cambodian government to lift the ban.
“The government does not believe only the reports from media and
NGOs, but we have received many complaints from victims… about severe
physical, sexual and mental abuses as well as no salary until they
finish their contract, and some are forced to continue their work
illegally,” Bun Eng replied.
“The government must deal with that by banning the sending of maids until there is a proper solution,” she added.
At a meeting with the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, staffers
suggested simple protections including bank accounts for workers,
regular data from the Ministry of Labour detailing who had arrived, and
changes in how recruitment fees were deducted from salaries.
They also spoke of severe staff shortages and insufficient resources, said Action Pour les Enfants country director Seila Samleang, who was on the delegation.
“There is a lack of manpower in the embassy. If you look at what they
have done with the very few people in the embassy, it’s good work. They
work on a lot of cases, but can’t be proactive about it,” he said.
Samleang and other non-government members of the delegation said they
were impressed by the thoroughness of the trip and the government’s
apparent commitment to improving the situation, but caution that it is
far too premature to lift the ban.
“If we have the proper instruments and mechanisms for workers it will
be the right time to send them back, but right now it’s still in the
process,” said Ros Va, national program co-ordinator for UN Women and a
member of the delegation.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chhay Channyda at
channyda.chhay@phnompenhpost.com
Abby Seiff at
abby.seiff@phnompenhpost.com
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