Migrant workers in Malaysia seek unpaid wages from a supplier to Japanese companies

HANOI, Vietnam -- Around 280 Bangladeshi migrant workers successful Malaysia are demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars successful backmost wages and different wealth owed to them aft their erstwhile employer, a integrative parts supplier to large Japanese companies, closed down.

The workers astatine Kawaguchi Manufacturing's mill successful Port Klang, Malaysia's largest larboard city, were near stranded erstwhile the institution withheld their wages for up to 8 months earlier shutting down precocious past year. The workers person filed complaints successful Malaysia and backmost location successful Bangladesh.

Such disputes person go a diplomatic sore constituent betwixt Bangladesh and Malaysia, drafting scrutiny connected a tiny but almighty radical of recruitment agencies and middlemen who monopolize specified jobs.

Asif Nazrul, an advisor to Bangladesh’s expatriate payment ministry, met with Malaysia’s Home Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong successful Kuala Lumpur past week. Officials were owed to conscionable again Wednesday successful Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital.

The interim authorities that took over successful Bangladesh aft the ouster of erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has placed a higher precedence connected the plight of migrant workers who often get trapped successful indebtedness aft paying exorbitant recruitment fees to enactment successful dismal conditions for small pay.

Labor advocates accidental the concern is worsening arsenic much radical from crossed South Asia, sometimes losing their livelihoods owed to clime change, question enactment successful Southeast Asia.

Trade tensions betwixt the U.S. and China person accelerated that inclination arsenic factories determination from China to places successful Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere.

The workers person received conscionable 251,000 ringgit ($58,101) of the much than 3 cardinal ringgit ($694,444) successful backmost wages that a Malaysian labour tribunal ordered Kawaguchi to pay. Many person recovered caller jobs but inactive person dense debts aft borrowing wealth to wage hefty recruitment fees.

The workers allege they were sometimes required to enactment without breaks for 24-hour shifts and connected holidays with nary paid overtime, making integrative casings for televisions and aerial conditioners. They accidental Kawaguchi confiscated their passports, provided inadequate lodging and delayed their visa renewals.

The mill unopen down successful December, soon aft Sony Group and Panasonic Holdings Corp., 2 of Kawaguchi's main customers, halted their orders successful effect to the allegations against their supplier.

After the mill closed, the workers accidental Malaysian officials forcibly sent galore of them to different metropolis immoderate 360 kilometers (220 miles) distant to toil successful caller mill jobs without giving them immoderate information. They were kept successful filthy shipping containers converted into dormitories. Another 80 workers were told to enactment successful thenar lipid plantations — but refused.

Most made their mode backmost to Port Klang to question enactment and spot distant astatine the debts that person been accumulating. It took astir 3 months for them to get support from the Malaysian authorities to power jobs.

The Associated Press got nary effect to aggregate requests to Kawaguchi for comment. Malaysia's labour section besides didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Md Kabir Hossain’s lawsuit is typical. The 19-year-old said helium borrowed much than $4,000 to get to Malaysia from his hometown Rangpur successful Bangladesh successful November 2023, aft his family’s textile store began to fail. The family’s sole wage earner, helium defaulted connected 1 of his loans and wasn’t capable to nonstop wealth backmost home, arsenic his household struggled to support their store going.

“I americium perpetually disquieted astir what volition hap to my family,” helium said.

Another worker, Parvez Azam said helium didn't cognize however overmuch longer helium could support going. “If this goes on, we'll dice here,” helium said.

Factories successful Malaysia and different countries successful Southeast Asia trust connected migrant workers, often from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, to capable labor-intensive jobs successful manufacturing, plantations, oregon operation that section workers won't execute for the wages offered.

The outgo of recruitment and migration from Bangladesh to Malaysia is among the astir costly successful the world, according to the International Labor Organization’s bureau successful Bangladesh.

The authoritative recruitment interest is astir $650 per worker. But each the workers astatine Kawaguchi said they paid astir $5,000. The loans they took to wage specified sums has pushed them into indebtedness bondage arsenic they labour to wage disconnected ever mounting debts.

In 2023, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia should extremity usage of recruitment agents, describing the strategy arsenic “modern slavery.” But a 2024 study of Bangladeshi workers successful Malaysia recovered that much than 70% had spent astatine slightest fractional of their wages to wage disconnected recruitment debts. Most person astatine slightest 2 loans and galore said they were misled astir their wages.

Nearly everyone who migrates overseas from Bangladesh, 1 of the countries astir affected by clime change, has suffered astatine slightest 1 signifier of modern slavery, similar withholding of wages oregon carnal violence, according to a study by the London-based deliberation vessel International Institute for Environment and Development.

Mohamad Mohosin, 38, said helium moved to Malaysia erstwhile his crops failed due to the fact that of utmost weather. After going months without being paid his indebtedness has spiraled, forcing his ample household successful Bangladesh to get inactive much money. “My household is successful trouble,” helium said.

Among migrant workers, Bangladeshis often extremity up successful the riskiest jobs, specified arsenic plantation enactment wherever they tin drawback mosquito-borne diseases, oregon physically demanding mill oregon operation roles, wherever the likelihood of accidents is higher, said Shariful Islam Hasan of BRAC.

“Despite the precocious hazard and the precocious migration cost, salaries are excessively low,” helium said.

Panasonic, Sony and Daikin, 3 of Kawaguchi's erstwhile main customers among astir a dozen, agreed to screen an estimated $1.3 cardinal of the recruitment costs paid by the workers. It’s unclear however overmuch each institution is contributing.

"This doesn't screen each the workers' costs, including involvement rates of up to 30% they indispensable wage connected their loans," said Andy Hall, a British labour activistic who has been helping the workers. Many person besides defaulted connected their debts aft going months without wages.

“They’re perfectly hopeless and they’re astatine precise precocious hazard of falling into adjacent worse situations,” Hall said.

Daikin settled with the workers, agreeing to wage them more, though it says it accounted for lone 1% to 2% of Kawaguchi's orders. The aerial conditioner shaper told AP it was moving with quality rights groups to resoluteness immoderate remaining issues.

Panasonic said it was “proportionally reimbursing the recruitment fees” paid by workers and had asked Kawaguchi to close labour violations. It said it tried to enactment Kawaguchi but had to disengage from the institution owed to its fiscal woes and anticipated accumulation problems.

Sony told AP its codification of behaviour prohibits abusive labour practices successful its proviso chain. After investigating, it demanded corrective measures. “When our demands were not satisfied, we terminated our narration with this supplier,” it said.

The workers are seeking much assistance and lawyer Terry Collingsworth of U.S.-based International Rights Advocates, who is representing them, said that they were successful discussions with Sony and Panasonic.

"We are not asking you to admit liability. We are asking you to comply with your nationalist committedness to remediate erstwhile 1 of your suppliers violates the quality rights of its workers,” said a Jan. 16 missive from Collingsworth to Sony and Panasonic.

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