Malaysia Fails to Guarantee Cambodian Maids’ Human Rights
The Ministry of Labor hopes that a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will see Cambodia resume sending domestic workers to Malaysia by February, but negotiations on the document have stalled after Malaysia recently rejected 90 percent of proposed provisions to protect workers’ rights. Most strikingly, Malaysia returned a draft MoU prepared by Cambodia with a black line through a provision that employers should “respect the basic human rights of the DW [domestic worker].” Malaysia also rejected Cambodia’s requests that domestic workers should keep possession of their own passports, be able to view and sign their employment contract before leaving Cambodia, have access to three meals daily and accrue annual leave. … Prime Minister Hun Sen in October 2011 indefinitely suspended Cambodia’s sending domestic workers to Malaysia after a raft of reports of abuse of domestic workers by both Malaysian employers and Cambodian recruitment agencies. Opening Monday’s workshop, Othsman Hassan, secretary of state at the Ministry of Labor, said it is imperative that the moratorium comes to an end as soon as possible. “The more [workers] we can send, the more money we can earn and the more money comes back to Cambodia,” Mr. Hassan said, adding that sending 300,000 domestic workers to Malaysia would amount to $1.5 billion in remittances annually—a target he wants to reach. …
Matt Blomberg and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/malaysia-fails-to-guarantee-cambodian-maids-human-rights-49629/
