Trapped in Shelters: Domestic Workers' Dilemma
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13 January 2022 15:53 WIB
On Aug. 14, 2018, Labour director Misswandi Pardy said Nona's claims for unpaid wages amounting to RM30,265.32 "be rejected and subsequently dismissed" as he argued that the Labour Court is not competent to hear the case because Nona was an undocumented migrant worker.
On July 19, 2019, after a year of multiple deferments and a change in presiding judge, a ruling was finally made that the Labour Court must hear cases involving undocumented workers.
"(However) her employer has appealed against the High Court ruling that she has a right to be heard in the Labour Court.
"That is where the case stands now. The appeal hearing has been postponed for over a year now," Joseph said in an interview at his office in Tenaganita's headquarters.
His office is filled with years of case files, documents and a small framed photograph of his late wife, well-known migrants rights activist Irene Fernandez.
Tenaganita officer Joseph Paul Maliamauv. Malaysiakini.com
Even if Nona's claim was eventually heard in court, Joseph noted that with the time that had passed, there could be little evidence left to counter the employer's defence that she never worked for them.
Nevertheless, he said the High Court ruling would still serve as an important legal precedent for claims by undocumented workers, despite a Labour Department's alleged refusal to accept such cases.
'My son calls me sister'
Coming into Malaysia through proper channels is also no guarantee of protection from being trapped in an exploitative working condition.
Mary* from Cambodia came to Malaysia in 2009 with a dream of saving enough money to raise her three-month-old son. Now, 12 years later, she stays on to fight for her hard-earned money.
"My boss didn't pay me... I worked for nine years, but she would only pay me small sums of RM50 or RM100 or RM200.
"I asked my boss for my salary, and she said 'you're not going back so why need to keep so much salary?' I said, 'Never mind, I want to keep the salary myself. (Whether) I use or no use, it's my problem because you already give it to me'," said Mary.
For nearly 10 years, Mary said she was denied access to a mobile phone, cutting off ties with her growing son and family in Cambodia, as well as any chance of making new friends in Malaysia.
It was only sometime towards the end of 2020 that Mary said she finally had a mobile phone and her employer's two children show her how to download TikTok.
From TikTok, Mary found another Cambodian domestic worker who, from what little information was available, managed to track down her mother.
Mary at Tenaganita's shelter. Malaysiakini.com
Recalling their first phone call in a decade, Mary said, "Mother, father, I didn't die. I really miss you."
As for her son, Mary said he was raised by her mother. "He calls her 'mother' and calls me 'sister'.
"I stay here. I no happy because my boss no good to me. My maam very good, my boss not good. When maam not home, he touch my everything [sic]," she revealed, instantaneously hugging herself.
With assistance from the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur who was informed about Mary's predicament at her workplace, Mary said she tried to negotiate with her "maam" but only to be told, "I let you play phone, why do you give problems to me?"
The Cambodian Embassy then attempted to engage with her employer. However, after the employer refused to discuss Mary's release, she was rescued by a representative of the embassy and placed in Tenaganita's shelter while waiting for a resolution of her case.
Malaysian authorities, through the Social Welfare Department, also shelter migrant workers and domestic workers believed to be victims of human trafficking, although Malaysiakini's requests to obtain official data were denied.
With no formal recognition of their status as workers, the recruitment of domestic workers - including from Indonesia and Cambodia - is guided by bilateral agreements.
The agreements, in the cases of these two countries, were signed, thus lifting the recruitment bans imposed in 2011 over reports of widespread abuse.
They include stipulations for workers to be allowed to keep their passports and monthly salaries to be made into bank accounts, among others.
Malaysia is eyeing a January deadline to sign its latest agreement on domestic workers recruitment from Indonesia.
Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said that conclusion of the deal would also restart the entry of some 32,000 Indonesian migrant workers to fill urgent demands from the plantation and manufacturing sectors.
Indonesia has set the signing of an agreement as a condition before allowing its citizens to officially work in the plantation sector.
While the various new deals under discussion are meant to introduce safeguards for the future, it remains unclear how quickly the authorities will end the suffering of those who have suffered the double whammy of unpaid wages and a long stint in limbo while fighting to reclaim their losses.
This report produced in collaboration with Indonesia's Tempo Magazine is part of the Seafore Asean Masterclass Project and is supported by IWPR.
