Trapped in Shelters: Domestic Workers' Dilemma
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13 January 2022 15:53 WIB
Can't afford lawyers
On average, Rijal said those with no outstanding cases could expect to leave for Indonesia within two weeks, while others in more "complicated situations" have had to remain in shelter for more than a year.
Of the current active cases, he said almost half, or 47.7 percent, involved labour disputes with employers, and about one-quarter, or 24.38 percent, had immigration issues, for example, missing official documents.
Infographic. Malaysiakini.com
Both local and migrant domestic workers in Malaysia are currently excluded from protection under the Employment Act 1955 - a legal shortcoming cited by Rijal and migrant activists as a factor driving many women to flee an exploitative working condition, at times leaving behind their claims to unpaid hard-earned wages.
With a limited budget to hire lawyers, Rijal said the embassy has to be selective about which cases to fight.
"It is not certain that we will hire a lawyer. We will have to calculate the pros and cons. For some cases, we hire lawyers, but usually, in civil matters like unpaid salaries, we will try our best first (to seek redress) before we resort to hiring lawyers.
"First, we will try to contact the employers, the agents, and we also in some cases talk to the Labour Department," he said.
Rijal said the situation became more complex when dealing with cases of undocumented migrants who are illegally employed here.
In one ongoing case, Rijal said the woman has been in the shelter for close to three years, going up against an employer who allegedly tried to "deny her existence".
"We had to come up with creative ways of proving otherwise," he added. "We have proven she was employed by the employer and right now, we are hiring a lawyer.
"But with the Covid-19 pandemic, the hearing has been changed multiple times already. It is heartbreaking to have them here for a long time, knowing that the facilities we have are not ideal," he lamented.
Some are tempted to give up
Having spent years away from their families, in some cases leading to estrangement due to prolonged lack of contact, Rijal noted how some women requested to leave, even with outstanding salaries owed to them.
"There are at least three or four cases that due to the length of time... they just gave up. We have already assigned lawyers and the first step is to issue a letter of demand.
"After that initial step, they had to wait here for a long time and eventually, they asked us to send them home," he said.
Indonesian Embassy counselor Rijal Al Huda. Malaysiakini.com
Malaysiakini previously reported on other ongoing claims for back wages handled by the Indonesian Embassy on behalf of women in their shelter, one of which allegedly amounted to RM106,000 for 12 years of unpaid work.
The outstanding amount varies between cases, to be claimed either via mediation, a Labour Court declaration, or civil proceedings, for any sum totaling more than six years.
Tenaganita officer Joseph Paul Maliamauv said one of the migrant rights group's longest ongoing cases was filed on behalf of Nona* (name changed to maintain her privacy) - a young woman from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara - seeking unpaid wages for work performed from 2013 until her escape sometime towards the end of 2017.
Little did Nona know that her newfound freedom turned out to be another ordeal.
It took her several more years of living in Tenaganita's shelter before she eventually returned to Indonesia early this year. That too, with no certainty she would ever receive her hard-earned wages.
"She was being abused, and finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She left the place with the help of a pastor who knew about us, so he took her to Tenaganita. That's how she came to us," Joseph said.
"With no end in sight, she wanted to go back home. 'How long do I have to wait? I want to rebuild my life again'," he said, quoting Nona.
Nona was promised a monthly salary of RM550 but never saw a single sen of her money, with RM9,000 or about 16 months' pay from her four-and-a-half years in service supposedly sent directly by her employer to an account belonging to a family member.
