KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s human resources ressortchef (umgangssprachlich) on Thursday (Jul 28) said Philippines had agreed to lift the freeze on delivering its migrant employees to the country effective Aug 1, after the nearby neighbours ironed out worries surrounding workers’ rights.
The entry of migrant workers will help Malaysia – the tour’s second-largest palm oil producer and an important link in the worldwide supply chain — ease a shortage of some 1 ) 2 million employees.
Indonesia this month temporarily ended sending its citizens to work in Malaysia, including thousands recruited for the plantation industry, citing a breach in an agreement aimed at improving the defense of domestic workers employed in Malaysian households.
Jakarta decided to resume sending its workers after both countries agreed to demo a single channel in order to facilitate the recruitment and entry of Indonesian workers, Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said inside a statement.
Indonesia’s Manpower Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Malaysia’s immigration specialists had previously used an internet recruitment system pertaining to domestic workers, yet that had been linked to allegations of trafficking and forced labour.
Scrutiny over the remedying of migrant workers within Malaysia has been developing, with seven Malaysian companies banned by the United States in the last 2 yrs over what it referred to as “forced labour”.
Malaysia relies on a lot of foreign workers from countries like Philippines, Bangladesh and Nepal to staff planting and factory work.
But in spite of lifting a pandemic-induced freeze on recruitment in February, Malaysia has not yet seen a significant return of workers due to slower government approvals plus protracted talks along with source countries more than employee protections.