Policy change strands Malaysia workers

Policy change strands Malaysia workers

By Bill O'Toole   |   Sunday, 27 October 2013

Since January, Ko Htein and four of his friends have gotten used to the four-hour bus journey from their homes in Ayeyarwady Region to Yangon.

A Myanmar worker arrives at Yangon International Airport from Malaysia on October 8. Photo: Boothee

While the commute doesn't bother them – without steady jobs, they have plenty of spare time – the message they hear when they get to the employment agency in Tarmwe township does. "Be patient," they are told, as they ask their agent again and again for news of their application to work in Malaysia.

Changes to the government's policy on sending workers to Malaysia have left thousands of aspiring migrants, like Ko Thein, floundering as they wait months for their passports to be approved.

Several recruitment agencies said that under the previous policy migrant workers would normally wait two to three months for their passports to be approved, and no longer than six months. However, in January the government introduced new steps to the application process, bringing an already complex and bureaucratic system to a screeching halt.

The changes give the embassy in Kuala Lumpur more control over the process: All applications for work visas must be approved by the embassy's new labour attaché, and then by a special committee made up of officials from the ministries of labour, immigration and foreign affairs in Nay Pyi Taw.

Ko Htein, who served as an informal spokesman for his group in an interview with The Myanmar Times, said the waiting has made their financial situation even worse. To pay the US$900 each that his agent demanded to submit the application, the group borrowed money from illegal moneylenders in Ayeyarwady Region at an interest rate of 10 percent a month. As of the first week of October, they were US$2000 in debt. Ko Thein said this was "manageable" – but only if he is able to get to Malaysia and start earning money soon. In the meantime, Ko Htein, who is 26, also has to support two sisters, his mother, and grandmother back in Ayeyarwady Region.

U Aung is a Yangon native who spent most of the 2000s working in Kuala Lumpur. He began as a manual labourer in a factory that shipped electronics parts but by the end was promoted to an administrator in the factory.

When his visa expired last year, he expected only a quick visit home to renew it. Like Ko Htein, he received a rude shock – and waiting for the chance to work again has quickly depleted his savings. "I had to take a loan from my friend just to live ... I can't be patient for much longer," he said.

U Aung and Ko Htein's agent, who has been sending workers to Malaysia for more than a decade, said he submits applications on behalf of about 50 people a month. So far this year not a single application has been approved. The agent asked not to be named.

While the outbreak of violence between Buddhists and Muslims in

Malaysia and the country's subsequent crackdown on undocumented workers in September cast a spotlight on the migrant worker trade, agents say the new rules predate the violence.

Neither the Department of Labour in Nay Pyi Taw nor the Myanmar embassy in Malaysia responded to requests for comment and clarification on the policy.

"I feel bad for myself because I am losing money," said the agent. "But I really pity the workers because they have no livelihood."

Another agent, who is a leading member of the Federation of Overseas Employment Agencies, said the Department of Labour has made the situation more confusing by not issuing an official statement outlining the changes. Instead it has relayed them verbally during meetings with the

association.

The Burma Worker's Rights Committee, based in Kuala Lumpur, estimates there are 500,000 Myanmar migrants in Malaysia, the majority unregistered.

As Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have noted, the cost and complexity of working legally encourages migrant workers to enter and work in Malaysia without documentation. This in turn puts them at risk of abuse and exploitation

During his time in Kuala Lumpur, U Aung regularly saw organised crime syndicates, police and even employers subject illegal workers to extortion. The experience made him determined to enter the country legally – but that has proved more difficult than he ever imagined.

"Everything is correct in my application," he said. "I want go there fair and legally ... There's no reason for the government to make me wait this long."

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/10/27/policy-change-strands-malaysia-workers/