Charles Santiago
We welcome the government’s decision to restructure foreign worker management and move the one-stop centre under the Ministry of Human Resources.
This system has failed both workers and employers for years. It is in urgent need of reform. But does this call for an overhaul mean that the Universal Recruitment Advanced Platform (Turap) has been dropped?
However, meaningful reform cannot be drafted behind closed doors. Everyone needs to be brought to the table: employers, trade unions, migrant worker organisations, recruitment agents, civil society groups and source-country governments.
A system governing millions of workers must be built collectively – not by a chosen few.
Ethical recruitment must be at the heart of any credible overhaul. Malaysia’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights already includes the ‘employer pays’ principle.
This is our chance to enforce it. No worker should have to mortgage land, sell livestock or fall into debt bondage just to work here and become victims of modern-day slavery.
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The government must publish clear standards, prioritise ethical recruitment and blacklist those who exploit workers. This must be the way forward.
The system itself must also be affordable, open, transparent and accountable. For too long, a single private vendor has held a chokehold over the entire pipeline.
The Public Accounts Committee found it operated for years without a contract, while fees doubled from RM100 to RM215 with no clear justification.
Malaysia’s migrant workers have waited decades for a system that serves them, not one that profits from them. This is Malaysia’s moment to prove it is serious about reform. It must break away from a monopoly that has been entrenched for far too long.
We look forward to hearing from Deputy PM Zahid Hamidi, the chairman of the cabinet committee on migrant workers, on the way forward with details.
Charles Santiago is a prominent Malaysian politician, economist, and human rights advocate who served three terms as the MP for Klang and has twice chaired the National Water Services Commission.
The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.
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