WHILE mooting a national action plan on forced labour is a noble initiative on the part of the Government, a labour expert has expressed concern that it could end up as “simply a wasted paper exercise by the powerless Human Resources Ministry (MOHR)”.
Solving forced labor issues genuinely, sustainably and systematically in Malaysia needed much more than a radical change of multiple government migration related policies and practices that actually cause or promote the forced labour in the first place, according to international migrant rights specialist Andy Hall.
“To address forced labour holistically in Malaysia, requires addressing as an urgent national priority the systemic corruption and impunity of government officials and politicians that is so clearly linked with and the main cause of the forced labour in the first place,” Hall pointed out in a critical-yet-constructive statement.
Hall was commenting on the first draft of the MOHR’s National Action Plan on Forced Labour (NAPFL) (2021-2025) for public comments which deadline falls on Aug 6.
Pointing to the poor conduct of officials in the Home Ministry, he was dumbfounded as to why such issues are not raised at all in the draft documents circulated for consultation.
“(This) diminishes the potential for success in the implementation stage of such a national action plan on forced labour,” opined Hall.
“The MOHR is in practice powerless to set or control the agenda and/or policies on migration and forced labour in Malaysia as almost every power that can ensure change for the better here is firmly embedded with the Home Ministry which prioritises national security concerns over economic and human security, and which in itself breeds systemic corruption and impunity.”
While the Malaysian private sector needs to take the lead in addressing, preventing and remediating modern slavery and forced labour in its own operations and supply chains, Hall stressed that the support and cooperation of buyers, public procurers, investors and the international community at large is equally essential.
“All these actors should be deemed complicit in this ongoing crisis situation regarding modern slavery and forced labour that is systemic in Malaysia but likewise are not mentioned in the action plan in any detail,” he lamented.
In essence, Hall urged the Government to seriously look into the presence of systemic corruption, impunity and the lack of accountability and enforcement of the rule of law.
This is with regard to human trafficking, forced labour and abuses against migrant workers both at work, in their living accomodation and during migrant recruitment, registration, regularisation and arrest, detainment and deportation processes, he added. – July 29, 2021
