Monday, January 24, 2011

Burmese migrant workers: caught between a tyrant and a tiger (Guardian, 24/1/2011) - Sinometal(5)



Burmese migrant workers: caught between a tyrant and a tiger

Malaysia's economic boom has been driven by the exploitation of cheap migrant labour, from Burma and Thailand. Underpaid and with no rights, this is their story


MDG : Foreign workers in Malaysia
Malaysia's economic boom has been fuelled by cheap foreign labour. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

They were not illegal, nor criminals, not protesting nor agitating. For 900 Malaysian ringgits (around $290) a month they had travelled, through a broker, to the southern Malaysian town of Johor. There to bend the metal, mould the bars and solder the nuts that will bolt together the terrific rise in Asia's economies.


However the 35 Burmese workers found that, after two months, instead of the promised amount, they were to receive 640 a month, with no overtime pay, as promised.


So the workers organised, led by five individuals. They initially complained to their employers.


The employers immediately called the police, all 35 were detained on 12 January. No charges were brought, and 30 were released that day.


"Whenever workers do actually complain to their employers or against [them], employers tend to discriminate against them or even terminate [their contracts]," says pioneering Malaysian human rights lawyer, Charles Hector.


Before any legal rationale could be brought, or advocates or government bodies mobilised, the five leaders were whisked away to the airport for deportation, because, as Hector notes, "the employer wins by default if they are deported", they cannot compete in a labour dispute, and migrant workers are not allowed to be members of a union or stay in Malaysia without employment.


Out of the five leaders who complained, three have been forced back to Burma despite signing a three-year contract, two, however are missing.


Malaysia's growing "tiger economy", is driven by a workforce of around 20% migrant labour, with an estimated 500,000 from Burma, many of them illegal, taking their place at the bottom of Malaysia's semi-apartheid ethnic mix.


With GDP per capita hard to record in Burma, the IMF estimated in January 2009 that it was around $250. This compares with the IMF's 2010 estimate for Malaysia of $7,775.


Despite a constitution and laws pertaining to universal rights in Malaysia, law enforcement and other political precedence places migrant workers at immediate disadvantage. All companies in Malaysia that hire foreign labour are required to pay a levy. This is very often deducted from workers' pay, even though the practice was made illegal in April 2009.


Tun Tun, head of Burma Campaign Malaysia, notes that the overwhelming ethos is for employers to take responsibility for their workers as opposed to the workers having rights as individuals. He points out that when you arrive in Malaysia as a tourist, you need no visa and can rapidly leave the airport. However, migrant workers have to wait for their employer to pick them up and take them, in custodial fashion, to wherever they please.


Not all Burmese are just economic migrants. Many of those who eke out a living between the concrete apartment buildings and highways of Kuala Lumpur have fled political oppression in their homeland.


Kyaw Hsan was jailed in Burma at the age of 15. His "crime" was distributing pamphlets about democracy, with news and information that circumvented Burma's draconian military censors. He would leave pamphlets on the roof of a bus, so as it drove through the streets of Rangoon they would flutter down, as innocently as freshly falling rain. He was picked up outside a meeting of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy on 16 September 2000.


His confinement was marked with weeks of torture, including night-long beatings by teams of guards. This was followed, in 2003, by periods of up to 32 days chained to a wet floor with dozens of other prisoners for protesting the rearrest of Aung San Suu Kyi.


He contracted tuberculosis, which quarantined him for a further year after his release from Rangoon's colonial-era Insein jail.


Beyond the scars marking his body, and despite his affable nature, the psychological toll is unmistakable. At the time of writing, a combination of dislocation, alcohol and the breakdown of a relationship had led to angry outbursts, which saw him lose his job as a waiter.


In exile


The isolation is palpable in divided Kuala Lumpur. On a busy rush hour Kyaw Hsan intervenes to protect a young Burmese who has been set upon by up to a dozen Malays. They beat him and take his phone, but he mistrusts the police so much that a foreign escort to the station to report it is deemed necessary.


Ko Harun, meanwhile, has weathered exile for longer. He fled his native Burma because of thediscrimination faced by the Rohingya minority. The Rohingya, he estimates along with many observers, are the most oppressed minority in Burma; despite having been in the country for about 1,000 years, they are denied citizenship rights.


Since he left Burma he has been arrested four times in Thailand and five times in Malaysia. In Thailand he says he was caged up with gang members who would violently steal his rations.


He has been "sold" to traffickers by Thai officials, after being handed over by Malaysian authorities. He was lucky enough to be able to borrow the fee to remove himself from bondage.


Conditions in Malaysian jails are horrendous, causing what the Malaysian press call riots but are actually hunger strikes or peaceful protests, complaining about the overcrowding, the constant outbreaks of leptospirosis, a disease caused spread through urine-contaminated water, or simply the length of detention.


The two missing worker leaders have not been heard from. Like an estimated 190,000 other Burmese in Malaysia, they are at the mercy of a divided, hungry nation.


• Joseph Allchin is a journalist with the exiled Burmese news network the Democratic Voice of Burma.




See also earlier posts:-

35 migrant workers arrested in Senai, Johor when they try to claim their rights from employer

Sinometal Case Update: 5 Migrant Workers being send to KLIA possibly to be send back to Burma

Sinometal Case Update(2): 2 Migrant Workers escape employer's attempts to send them back to Burma

Sinometal Case Update(3): 27 Workers Win, 3 send back to Burma, 5 still missing...

About Sinometal (4) :- Migrants missing after rights case (DVB, 19/1/2011)


Saturday, January 22, 2011

Shan Herald - Employers must pay all medical cost of workers....

Employers must pay all medical cost of workers especially when it is a work-related accident or an occupational disease.

Media Statement – 20/1/2011

We, the undersigned 53 organizations, groups and networks are appalled that the Malaysian Government is now asking about 1.5 million migrant workers themselves, and not their employers, to buy a new Foreign Workers Hospitalisation and Surgical Insurance. If these migrant workers do not do so, the Malaysian government is threatening not to renew their work permits. The Malaysian Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, also stated that the worker’s work permits will not be renewed if there are outstanding hospital bills. [Bernama, 7/1/2011, Foreign Workers with Insurance May Enter Hospital without Deposit]

What is worrying is that workers should never be required to pay for their treatment and necessary healthcare especially if the reason treatment is sought is a work-related or industrial accident, or some occupation-related disease.

With regard to migrant workers in Malaysia, who are required to get a clean bill of health before they enter Malaysia, and before they are given a work permit, it is only right for employers to be liable to pay for all treatment and medical charges if they do get sick in Malaysia. Further, it is generally the employer that determines where these workers must stay and work.

In Malaysia, whilst the social security of local workers are covered by the Social Security Act, migrant workers are covered by the lesser Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952, which unlike the former do not provide for continuous regular support and assistance until death for a worker who is a victim of an industrial accident or occupational disease. The Workmen’s Compensation Act, on the other hand, only provides for a one-off payment to the victim and/or their dependents where death has resulted from the injury/disease, that is a lump sum equal to sixty months' earnings or RM18,000, whichever is the less.

It is good that the Workmen's Compensation (Foreign Workers' Compensation Scheme) (Insurance) Order 1998, extended coverage to personal injury (and death) that is sustained in an accident which occurs outside the working hours of the workman. Given this fact, there only needs to be a minimum extension of coverage to cover any remaining matters that will require treatment, hospitalization and/or surgery, and this could be done quite easily by amending the relevant Act and/or broadening the scope of the current insurance that employers already do have to buy for their foreign workers.

Malaysian Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, was reported saying that this new insurance was to ensure that foreign workers’ medical bills in public hospitals, which to date total RM18mil, will not be a burden to the Government. (Star, 26/11/2010, Compulsory medical insurance policies for foreign workers from next year). However, this cannot be right as there should not be any outstanding migrant worker medical bills at all.

Under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, the employer is clearly liable to pay for the conveyance to the hospital, treatment, ward charges, medicines and other expenses incurred in the treatment and rehabilitation of such workmen (sec.15). The employer is clearly liable to pay directly to the management of such hospital all fees and charges, and as such one wonders what unpaid medical bills the Minister is talking.

Further, attention also should be drawn to Workmen's Compensation Regulations 1953, in particular Regulation 18, which deals with the issue of excess fees, “A workman admitted either to an approved or a special hospital shall, where such hospital is a private hospital, himself be liable to pay the amounts of any fees or costs incurred on his behalf in excess of the maximum amounts prescribed by the Minister of Health under section 15 (3) of the Act, and, where such hospital is a government hospital, such excess amounts shall be paid from public funds.” Since, the Minister is talking about government hospitals, there is certainly no way that there exist outstanding medical bills when it comes to migrant workers.

The Malaysian pro-employer government has proceeded to further protect employers of migrant workers by limiting the maximum amount fees and cost that is payable by an employer under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. As of 1st March 2007 (PU (A) 077/2007), this maximum liability of an employer for ward charges, including surgical ward treatment fee is RM300, for operation fees it is RM250, for X-Ray Fees it is RM100 and for other electric therapeutic charges it is RM100.

The rates stipulated are outrageously low given the fact that government hospitals and clinics charge migrant workers first class rates, and the lowest deposit for a migrant worker who needs to be warded is RM400, and if it was a surgical case, it is RM800-00. Operation charges can range from RM50 to RM3,000 depending on the type of operation. Ultrasound cost RM100. Radiology charges range from RM50-RM600. Lab charges range from RM5 to RM100 depending on the type of tests, and usually there will be quite a lot of tests needed.

But, even when the government does limit the amount that the employer is liable to pay, the excess as stipulated in Regulation 18 of the Workmen's Compensation Regulations 1953 is paid from public funds, and as such there really is no logical reason why there can ever be outstanding debt. It is really hoped that in Malaysia, the government does not expect the migrant worker to come up with the money themselves before the necessary treatment and/or surgery is done. Employers should make all the necessary payments immediately, and should thereafter do the needful to claim whatever excess payment from the public fund.

The Health Minister is naïve to insist that the migrant worker only need to provide their passport before treatment is given, as in most cases the employers and/or the agent do wrongly hold on to the passports of migrant workers. Sometimes, the passports are with immigration authorities and/or some other authorities. Hence, in the name of justice, all necessary treatment must be immediately provided to migrant workers on their arrival and registration, without insistence on the production of passport and/or payment of any large deposit. Let not the absence of a document and money be the cause of death or the loss of limbs of a migrant worker in Malaysia.

It is also very wrong to threaten to penalize the migrant worker with non-renewal of work permit, when any punishments in law should rightly be against the employer and should not in any way jeopardize the rights and the well being of migrant workers already in Malaysia.

We, the undersigned groups, hereby:-
a) Call on the Malaysian Government to ensure that all employers of migrant workers, not just those that employ domestic workers and in the plantation sector, be liable to pay for this new Foreign Workers Hospitalisation and Surgical Insurance;
b) Call on the Malaysian government to ensure that no worker would be made liable to pay for the conveyance to hospital, treatment, ward charges, medicines and other expenses following a work-related accident and/or for some occupational disease.
c) Call on the Malaysian government to repeal Maximum Amounts for Fees and Costs (PU (A) 077/2007), and ensure that employers of migrant workers be liable to pay reasonable amounts consistent with the rates imposed by the government for medical care and treatment of migrant workers at government hospitals.
d) Urge the Malaysian government to review and remove the differential rates being charged for Malaysians and other foreigners, especially migrant workers, at government hospitals and healthcare facilities.
e) Urge the Malaysian government to review the policy of ‘No Treatment until Production of Passport and payment of deposits”, and ensure that all who needs medical treatment and care are immediately given the said required care that will prevent loss of life and/or limbs.


Charles Hector
Pranom Somwong

For and on behalf of the following 53 organizations

Aliran
Archdiocesan Human Development Commission (AHDC)
Asia Pacific Forum on Women , law and Development ( APWLD )
Asian Migrant Centre(AMC)
Association for Community Development-ACD, Bangladesh
Building and Wood Workers’ International Asia Pacific Regional Office (BWI-APRO)
Burma Campaign Malaysia
Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP), Cambodia
Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)
Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)

CCC Netherlands
Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Malaysia
Civil Right committee, Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Committee of Asian Women, CAW
Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS), Burma
Health Equity Initiatives
Hsinchu Catholic Diocese Migrants and Immigrants Service Center (HMISC), Taiwan
IMA Research Foundation, Bangladesh
INFID, Indonesia
Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP), Timor Leste

Labour Behind the Label, United Kingdom
Legal Support for Children and Women(LSCW), Cambodia
MADPET - Malaysians against Death Penalty and Torture
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)
Manggagawang Kababaihan Mithi ay Paglaya (MAKALAYA), Philippines
MAP Foundation, Thailand
Mekong Migration Network (MMN)
Metal Industry Employees’ Union, Malaysia
Migrant Care, Indonesia
Migrant Health Association, Korea

Migrante International
Migrants Rights Council, India,
Myanmar Youth Knowledge Initiative
Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)
NGOs in Myanmar Web Portal
PACOS Trust
Penang Office for Human Development (POHD)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower)
Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)
Pusat Komas

Sarawak Dayak Iban Assocoation
Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity for Human Rights), Indonesia
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Malaysia
Thai Committee for Refugees (TCR)
Think Centre, Singapore
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), Singapore
UNI Global Union-Malaysia
Verite Southeast Asia
Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, France
WARBE Development Foundation-Bangladesh

WIRDA (Women Institute for Research Development and Advancement)
Women's Legal and Human Rights Bureau, Inc. (WLB), Philippines
Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)

For further information, please contact Charles Hector ( chef@tm.net.myThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or easytocall@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Pranom Somwong (Bee) ( p_somwong@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) at 019-2371 300.

Friday, January 21, 2011

‘Compel employers to pay for health insurance’ [Free Malaysia Today, 21/1/2011]





‘Compel employers to pay for health insurance’

G Vinod | January 21, 2011

A coalition of 58 NGOs slam the government's move to make migrant workers pay for health scheme.

PETALING JAYA: Employers of migrant workers should be the ones contributing to the foreign workers’ hospitalisation and surgical insurance scheme instead of the workers.

“It is appalling that the Malaysian government is asking the 1.5 million migrant workers, and not their employers, to pay for insurance,” a coalition of 58 NGOs said in a press statement.

On Jan 7, Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that migrant workers would be made to subscribe to the newly-launched insurance scheme as coverage for work-related injuries or death.

While employers of plantation workers and housemaids are required to pay for the insurance policies, other foreign employees must pay for it themselves.

Liow said that the government would not renew the permits of migrant workers if they did not subscribe to the insurance and settle their outstanding medical bills.

Spokespersons for the NGOs, Charles Hector and Pranom Somwong, said that no foreign workers should be made to pay for their medical treatment.

“These foreigners are required to get a clean bill of health before being given a work permit to be employed in Malaysia. Therefore, the employers should be paying for their medical treatement.

They poured scorn on Liow’s statement.

“The Workmen’s Compensation Regulations 1953 clearly states that public funds would be used to pay for workers’ medical expenses should they seek treatment at a public health facility.

“Since the minister was referring to government hospitals, what outstanding bills is he talking about?” they asked.

‘Liow is naïve’

The activists said the workmen’s regulations also needed a review as the amount stipulated for medical coverage for foreign workers was out of touch with current healthcare rates.

“The regulation caps employers’ contribution for surgery at RM300. However, operation charges can vary between RM50 and RM3,000 depending on the type of surgery.”

He also called Liow “naïve” for insisting that migrant workers produce their passports to the hospital authorities before seeking treatment.

“In most cases, employers or their agents illegally hold on to the passports. Sometimes, the passports are held by immigration authorities or other agencies,” said Hector.

The activists said it was only proper that the hospitals gave priority to the individual’s health instead of nitpicking on documentation and paperwork.

“Do not let the absence of a document and money be the cause of death or the loss of a limb of a migrant worker in Malaysia,” said Hector.

Among the 58 NGOs making the call were Aliran, Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Mekong Migration Network (MMN), Migrant Care of Indonesia, Migrant Health Association of Korea and Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD).


See also earlier post:-

58 Groups : Employers must pay all medical cost of workers especially when it is a work-related accident or an occupational disease.


58 Groups : Employers must pay all medical cost of workers especially when it is a work-related accident or an occupational disease.

Media Statement – 20/1/2011

Employers must pay all medical cost of workers especially when it is a work-related accident or an occupational disease.

We, the undersigned 58 organizations, groups and networks are appalled that the Malaysian Government is now asking about 1.5 million migrant workers themselves, and not their employers, to buy a new Foreign Workers Hospitalisation and Surgical Insurance. If these migrant workers do not do so, the Malaysian government is threatening not to renew their work permits. The Malaysian Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, also stated that the worker’s work permits will not be renewed if there are outstanding hospital bills. [Bernama, 7/1/2011, Foreign Workers with Insurance May Enter Hospital without Deposit]

What is worrying is that workers should never be required to pay for their treatment and necessary healthcare especially if the reason treatment is sought is a work-related or industrial accident, or some occupation-related disease.

With regard to migrant workers in Malaysia, who are required to get a clean bill of health before they enter Malaysia, and before they are given a work permit, it is only right for employers to be liable to pay for all treatment and medical charges if they do get sick in Malaysia. Further, it is generally the employer that determines where these workers must stay and work.

In Malaysia, whilst the social security of local workers are covered by the Social Security Act, migrant workers are covered by the lesser Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952, which unlike the former do not provide for continuous regular support and assistance until death for a worker who is a victim of an industrial accident or occupational disease. The Workmen’s Compensation Act, on the other hand, only provides for a one-off payment to the victim and/or their dependents where death has resulted from the injury/disease, that is a lump sum equal to sixty months' earnings or RM18,000, whichever is the less.

It is good that the Workmen's Compensation (Foreign Workers' Compensation Scheme) (Insurance) Order 1998, extended coverage to personal injury (and death) that is sustained in an accident which occurs outside the working hours of the workman. Given this fact, there only needs to be a minimum extension of coverage to cover any remaining matters that will require treatment, hospitalization and/or surgery, and this could be done quite easily by amending the relevant Act and/or broadening the scope of the current insurance that employers already do have to buy for their foreign workers.

Malaysian Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, was reported saying that this new insurance was to ensure that foreign workers’ medical bills in public hospitals, which to date total RM18mil, will not be a burden to the Government. (Star, 26/11/2010, Compulsory medical insurance policies for foreign workers from next year). However, this cannot be right as there should not be any outstanding migrant worker medical bills at all.

Under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, the employer is clearly liable to pay for the conveyance to the hospital, treatment, ward charges, medicines and other expenses incurred in the treatment and rehabilitation of such workmen (sec.15). The employer is clearly liable to pay directly to the management of such hospital all fees and charges, and as such one wonders what unpaid medical bills the Minister is talking.

Further, attention also should be drawn to Workmen's Compensation Regulations 1953, in particular Regulation 18, which deals with the issue of excess fees, “A workman admitted either to an approved or a special hospital shall, where such hospital is a private hospital, himself be liable to pay the amounts of any fees or costs incurred on his behalf in excess of the maximum amounts prescribed by the Minister of Health under section 15 (3) of the Act, and, where such hospital is a government hospital, such excess amounts shall be paid from public funds.” Since, the Minister is talking about government hospitals, there is certainly no way that there exist outstanding medical bills when it comes to migrant workers.

The Malaysian pro-employer government has proceeded to further protect employers of migrant workers by limiting the maximum amount fees and cost that is payable by an employer under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. As of 1st March 2007 (PU (A) 077/2007), this maximum liability of an employer for ward charges, including surgical ward treatment fee is RM300, for operation fees it is RM250, for X-Ray Fees it is RM100 and for other electric therapeutic charges it is RM100.

The rates stipulated are outrageously low given the fact that government hospitals and clinics charge migrant workers first class rates, and the lowest deposit for a migrant worker who needs to be warded is RM400, and if it was a surgical case, it is RM800-00. Operation charges can range from RM50 to RM3,000 depending on the type of operation. Ultrasound cost RM100. Radiology charges range from RM50-RM600. Lab charges range from RM5 to RM100 depending on the type of tests, and usually there will be quite a lot of tests needed.

But, even when the government does limit the amount that the employer is liable to pay, the excess as stipulated in Regulation 18 of the Workmen's Compensation Regulations 1953 is paid from public funds, and as such there really is no logical reason why there can ever be outstanding debt. It is really hoped that in Malaysia, the government does not expect the migrant worker to come up with the money themselves before the necessary treatment and/or surgery is done. Employers should make all the necessary payments immediately, and should thereafter do the needful to claim whatever excess payment from the public fund.

The Health Minister is naïve to insist that the migrant worker only need to provide their passport before treatment is given, as in most cases the employers and/or the agent do wrongly hold on to the passports of migrant workers. Sometimes, the passports are with immigration authorities and/or some other authorities. Hence, in the name of justice, all necessary treatment must be immediately provided to migrant workers on their arrival and registration, without insistence on the production of passport and/or payment of any large deposit. Let not the absence of a document and money be the cause of death or the loss of limbs of a migrant worker in Malaysia.

It is also very wrong to threaten to penalize the migrant worker with non-renewal of work permit, when any punishments in law should rightly be against the employer and should not in any way jeopardize the rights and the well being of migrant workers already in Malaysia.

We, the undersigned groups, hereby:-

a) Call on the Malaysian Government to ensure that all employers of migrant workers, not just those that employ domestic workers and in the plantation sector, be liable to pay for this new Foreign Workers Hospitalisation and Surgical Insurance;

b) Call on the Malaysian government to ensure that no worker would be made liable to pay for the conveyance to hospital, treatment, ward charges, medicines and other expenses following a work-related accident and/or for some occupational disease.

c) Call on the Malaysian government to repeal Maximum Amounts for Fees and Costs (PU (A) 077/2007), and ensure that employers of migrant workers be liable to pay reasonable amounts consistent with the rates imposed by the government for medical care and treatment of migrant workers at government hospitals.

d) Urge the Malaysian government to review and remove the differential rates being charged for Malaysians and other foreigners, especially migrant workers, at government hospitals and healthcare facilities.

e) Urge the Malaysian government to review the policy of ‘No Treatment until Production of Passport and payment of deposits”, and ensure that all who needs medical treatment and care are immediately given the said required care that will prevent loss of life and/or limbs.

Charles Hector

Pranom Somwong

For and on behalf of the following 58 organizations

Aliran

Archdiocesan Human Development Commission (AHDC)

Asia Pacific Forum on Women , law and Development ( APWLD )

Asian Migrant Centre(AMC)

Asian Migrants Coordinating Body in HK (AMCB)

Association for Community Development-ACD, Bangladesh

Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers in HK (ATKI-HK)

Building and Wood Workers’ International Asia Pacific Regional Office (BWI-APRO)

Burma Campaign Malaysia

Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP), Cambodia

Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)

Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)

CCC Netherlands

Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Malaysia

Civil Right committee, Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall

Committee of Asian Women, CAW

Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS), Burma

Health Equity Initiatives

Hsinchu Catholic Diocese Migrants and Immigrants Service Center (HMISC), Taiwan

IMA Research Foundation, Bangladesh

INFID, Indonesia

Johor Textile and Garment Workers Union

Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP), Timor Leste

Labour Behind the Label, United Kingdom

Lawyers for Human Rights & Legal Aid, Pakistan

Legal Support for Children and Women(LSCW), Cambodia

MADPET - Malaysians against Death Penalty and Torture

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)

Manggagawang Kababaihan Mithi ay Paglaya (MAKALAYA), Philippines

MAP Foundation, Thailand

Mekong Migration Network (MMN)

Metal Industry Employees’ Union, Malaysia

Migrant Care, Indonesia

Migrant Health Association, Korea

Migrante International

Migrants Rights Council, India,

Myanmar Youth Knowledge Initiative

Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)

NGOs in Myanmar Web Portal

PACOS Trust

Penang Office for Human Development (POHD)

Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower)

Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)

Pusat Komas

Sarawak Dayak Iban Assocoation

Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity for Human Rights), Indonesia

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Malaysia

Thai Committee for Refugees (TCR)

Think Centre, Singapore

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), Singapore

UNI Global Union-Malaysia

United Indonesians Against Overcharging (PILAR)

Verite Southeast Asia

Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, France

WARBE Development Foundation-Bangladesh

WIRDA (Women Institute for Research Development and Advancement)

Women's Legal and Human Rights Bureau, Inc. (WLB), Philippines

Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Migrant Workers should not be charged 1st class rates at government hospitals in Malaysia

Did you know that foreigners, including migrant workers, are charged 1st class rates when they go to government clinics and hospitals? Malaysian government treats migrant workers as 'medical tourist' and is reaping great profits from them.

I believe that migrant workers, for whom annual levy have been paid by employers, and who is really helping in the development of our country should not be charged at the same rate as other foreigners and/or medical tourists are being charged. They should be charged at the same rate as Malaysians.
The other category of persons that should be charged at the same rate as Malaysians are foreign spouses of Malaysians.

It may be alright to charge foreigners a higher rate for medical treatment and care, but then, would it not be better that they are all charged the same. When Malaysians go overseas, would we not be wanting to be charged at the same rate that they are charging the local especially when we go to government/public hospitals. [With regard the private hospitals, they should be allowed to charge what they want - and I am wondering why the Malaysian government is interfering on the rates charged by private medical care providers]

In Thailand, there is a government scheme than enables Thais to even go to private hospitals and be charged the same low rate that they are being charged at government hospitals - maybe our Malaysian government should explore this possibility...

Back to migrant workers who are being charged 1st class rates, here are some information that I just recently obtained at the government hospital. The governing Act is Akta Fee 1951 (Fee Act 1951), and the rates now is as per Perintah Fee (Perubatan) 1982 [Fee(Medical) Order 1982]. Unfortunately I did not find this at our Health Ministry Website - or anywhere else. Should it not be freely available to the public?

First the payment required by Malaysians when they visit an hospital seeking treatment, it is RM1 if you are seeing a doctor, and RM5 if you are seeing a specialist. For the migrant worker, it starts with RM50 if you are seeing a doctor... more maybe if you are seeing a specialist.
Deposits Payable Where one requires to be warded
Then, the deposit payable by Malaysians who require to be warded, which depends on the type of treatment sought, i.e.Perubatan (Medical), Pembedahan(Surgery), Perbidanan/Sakit Puan (Maternity),...and then the whether one choses 1st Class, 2nd Class or 3rd Class.

Malaysians
Medical - RM700 (1st), RM200 (2nd), RM20 (3rd)
Surgery - RM1,100(1st), RM400(2nd), RM30 (3rd)
Maternity - RM800 (1st), RM350(2nd), RM15(3rd)
Pensioners - RM50(1A), RM40(1B), RM15(2nd), RM0 (3rd)
* Pensioners refer to those who are former public servants(a.k.a. government servants) - and sadly it just do not cover all elderly Malaysians above 55 yrs +

Foreign Nationals (including Migrant Workers)
Medical - RM1,400 (1st), RM600(2nd), RM400(3rd)
Surgery - RM2,200(1st), RM1,200(2nd), RM800(3rd)
Maternity - RM1,400(1st), RM1,000(2nd), RM800(3rd)

Well, for the Deposits where one needs to be warded, the charges is not exactly 1st class charges as seen above - but for all other charges, it will be 1st class charges...(In comparison, I have given the 3rd Class charges that Malaysians are charged)

Lab Charges
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM5 - RM100 [depending on type of test]
*Malaysians RM2-RM25]

Surgery
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM50 - RM3,000 [depending on type of surgery, A-F]
Malaysians RM10 - RM200

Ward Charges
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM80/day
Malaysians Free - RM3

Delivery
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM500[Normal Delivery] - RM1,000 [Cesarean]
Malaysians RM10[Normal Delivery] - RM100[Cesarean]

Ultra Sound
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM100
Malaysians RM10 - RM50

Radiology Charges
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM50 - RM600 (Depending on type, Z - AE]
Malaysians RM10 - RM120

Cardiology
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM30 - RM250 (Depending on type)
Malaysians RM5 - RM50

Physiotherapy
Foreigners (incl. Migrant Workers) RM20 per session
Malaysians RM0 - RM5

Saturday, January 8, 2011

No, we are not decent enough until government start caring about workers' welfare...

An article from a Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia....a good read - but we really are not decent enough..

We have abandoned the worker and their families in favour of the employers/companies....

We are not interested in ensuring that workers do have permanent secure jobs until a retirement age... and are directly employed by the employer who owns the business - not some other third party, i.e. the contractors of labour.... the 'kangani' of old..

Short term contracts are very stressful for the Malaysian worker - and it makes family planning almost an impossible - but the Malaysian government does not care....

Saturday January 8, 2011

Are we decent enough?

AT YOUR SERVICE
By DATUK R. SEGARAJAH
sega@mohr.gov.my

In keeping with the Malaysian Decent Work Agenda, the Human Resource Ministry is focusing on various labour-related policies and strategies.

THE world is and will continue to be different from what we have experienced in the past. Competition for investment, job opportunities and human talent has become more intense. No country can be insulated from events happening elsewhere. The structure of Malaysian society has experienced drastic changes to bear with the new social and economic demands.

In this regard, promoting and sustaining employment, assuring job security, demand for an appropriate level of wages and enhancing social protection are some of the issues that need to be addressed to cater to the needs of the 11.6 million labour force.

The notion of Decent Work was introduced by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as “opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity”.

The Decent Work Agenda is embedded in the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for Fair Globalisation, reflecting the wide consensus on the need for a strong social dimension to globalisation in achieving improved and fair outcomes for all. It stresses that the strategic objectives of employment, social protection, social dialogue and rights at work are inseparable, interrelated and mutually supportive, and deemed crucial to all workers, regardless of their status.

Within these contexts, the Human Resources Ministry has formulated its own strategies to realise the Decent Work Agenda in Malaysia, focusing on six priority areas aimed at creating employment opportunities and ensuring workers’ rights, maintaining harmonious industrial relations, resolving industrial disputes fairly and equitably, developing a competitive workforce, implementing dynamic occupational safety and health programmes, and providing the necessary social safety network.

In light of the above, the ministry has attempted to put into place many new programmes in keeping with the Malaysian Decent Work Agenda.

Job carnivals at state and district levels were organised to provide a one-stop focal-point for potential employers and employees to come together. Complementing these programmes is the JobsMalaysia employment portal, which facilitates online jobs registration, matching and placement, as well as the ministry’s nationwide network of JobsMalaysia Centres which renders direct personal interaction and advisory services on employment opportunities to facilitate the requirements of both employers and job seekers.

A new approach to bring jobs to the people was also initiated, where job fairs were held in areas with high concentration of people such as public housing and industrial areas.

The ministry is also focusing on providing jobs for the homeless, where its officers together with employers seek the homeless on their “home ground” and offer them immediate employment. Initially, this programme is being piloted in the Klang Valley to gauge its effectiveness.

In a similar vein, registrants under the e-Kasih database identified as hard core poor and interested in employment under the 1 Azam Kerja program are sought out and offered a choice of three different employment opportunities.

In an endeavour to encourage part-time work as an alternative mode of employment, the Employment (Part Time Employees) Regulations 2010 has been formulated to provide greater flexibility in the labour market.

It is the ministry’s attempt to enable the latent workforce, comprising amongst others housewives, retirees and students, to work according to their capacity and needs.

In an effort to create a harmonious and conducive industrial relations eco-system in Malaysia, the ministry has embarked on an exercise to amend the three main labour legislations, namely the Employment Act 1955, Industrial Relations Act 1967 and Trade Unions Act 1959, to keep in tune with the times.

Numerous discussions and consultations were held amongst the various stakeholders to assist in updating and fine-tuning some of the provisions to keep them current and relevant to the new economic realities, both locally and globally. Getting consensus has not been easy as both the employer and employee organisations and some of the social partners seem entrenched in the old way of doing things.

The recent economic crisis has shown that the Government needs to provide a better safety net for affected workers.

Efforts are being undertaken to strengthen the labour safety net, in keeping with the Decent Work Agenda. One initiative being currently finalised is the Relief Fund for Loss of Employment, which is intended to assist retrenched workers who are not paid their due benefits, as provided under the law, by providing them financial assistance for a specific period of time.

Initially, it is proposed that this Fund be financed by the Government, with the ultimate aim of developing an Unemployment Insurance Scheme to which both employers and employees would contribute accordingly.

The Government has also instructed the ministry to put in place the necessary framework for the implementation of the National Minimum Wage. Consultative sessions have been held with our various social partners, including in Sabah and Sarawak, to seek the preliminary feedback from the rakyat. The National Minimum Wage Act is being formulated to enable the establishment of the National Wages Consultative Council and the necessary legal framework required for its operations.

As the nation moves forward with the Government Transformation Program (GTP) and its NKRAs, the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) and its NKEAs, the 10th Malaysia Plan and the New Economic Model, there is a need to balance the employers’ demands for greater efficiency and flexibility with the workers needs for employment stability, and effective and appropriate social security protection.

In the New Economic Model: The Concluding Part, recently released by the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), many policy measures have been proposed both under Workplace Transformation and Workforce Transformation. As the Ministry puts in place the many operational plans to achieve the desired state, it is important that all stakeholders and social partners, and the rakyat in general, come on board and recognise the implications of not moving forward within the global context.

As Malaysia moves boldly towards Vision 2020, the various labour-related policies and strategies that need to be put in place to enable Malaysia to be plugged into the international economy should not be tagged as being pro-employer or pro-employee, but ultimately pro-Malaysia, to do what is best and “decent” for the country. Let us all together do this, for the children and grandchildren of Malaysia.

Source: Star, 8/1/2011, Are we decent enough?

Minister say migrant worker who do not buy insurance/settle hospital bills will not get work permit renewed...

It is shocking that the Malaysian government is asking that migrant workers themselves, not their employers, to pay for their own Foreign Workers Hospitalisation and Surgical Insurance. The exception being employers of domestic workers, and those in the plantation sector. I believe that this is discriminatory - and there is no justification why not all employers are required to pay.

Secondly, are not migrant workers already covered by the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952 (amended 1996)., which provide today coverage not only for accidents that happen at the workplace, but for all accidents anytime. The coverage also covers the cost of treatment, hospitalization, etc... and if what is provided for in is inadequate, possibly also by reason that migrant workers are charged 1st class rates at government hospitals and healthcare facilities, then the appropriate action would be to amend these laws to update the coverage so that it is sufficient to cover the exorbitant rate Malaysian government charges all foreigners, including migrant workers.

Since all forms of accidents are covered, and certainly all other forms of workplace related illness are covered, all that remain are sickness that are not workplace related. But, given that most migrant workers also stay in accommodations provided by their employers, hence employers should also be responsible to cover the cost of treatment of illness caused by close human contact and/or proximity, any which is by reason of poor accommodation conditions. Hence, rather than insisting on another insurance, it may be best to just expand the scope of the insurance already existing under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952 (amended 1996)..
If it is an industrial accident, are we saying that the worker is supposed to pay for it - and not the employer? This is absurd - for logically and reasonably, if it is an industrial accident, then the employer is duty bound to pay all monies to ensure immediate treatment, surgery, etc...

What is interesting is that migrant workers have no choice, and they are forced to buy this insurance only and not some other. And, if they do not, then their work permits will not be renewed... Why do they have the choice to buy some other insurance?

Now, if their outstanding bill is not settled, their work permit will not be renewed. Is the Minister talking about present 'outstanding bill', or future outstanding bill? Why should migrant workers suffer for the failings of an employer. An errant employer who may no longer need the services of a migrant worker, despite the fact that the initial agreement may have been for a couple of years more can simply not settle the medical bill - and the worker's work permit will not be renewed, and he will be sent back to the country of origin prematurely. [Some say, why can't the worker fight and claim for breach of contract...the short answer is money and the fact that any court/tribunal needs the complainant/claimant to be physically present for the case to proceed, and a migrant worker with no work permit do not have the right to stay legally in the country...]. On a platter, the government of Malaysia has just handed errant employers another method to wrongfully and unjustly get rid of the worker when their services are no longer needed.
Liow said that any outstanding hospital bill must be settled by the foreign worker concerned or his employer before a work permit can be renewed.
Another matter of concern, was the assertion that migrant worker needing medical attention need ONLY to produce his passport. But, this is a problem because in most case employers and/or agents illegally hold on to the passports of migrant workers. And despite the fact that the Malaysian law requires the migrant worker to be able to produce his/her passport on demand, failing which it will be an offence, resulting usually in immediate arrest, detention, etc.. - the Malaysian government shows no political will to stop this wrong. Passports are used like leashes to 'control' migrant workers.
"These foreign workers only need to produce their passport at the registration counter," Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Friday.
I have knowledge of one case, where a worker who got injured in an industrial accident lost the usage of his fingers which could have been re-attached by surgery because the employer took time getting the passport and the required deposit to the hospital. Speed sometimes is essential for saving lives, limbs, etc - and it is hoped that Malaysian doctors and hospitals will not just stand by and see migrant workers die, or lose the opportunity of using one's hand by reasons like not having their passport, not having some medical insurance, not having enough money for deposit/treatment. Have we in Malaysia lost our humanity?

And the proposed insurance will cost the worker RM120, and the maximum coverage is RM1,000 according to the Bernama report attached. I just met a women migrant worker in Penang that took home about RM200 monthly wages, and so I wonder whether there is really any more money available to pay for insurance. Further, lowest deposit for a migrant worker who need to be warded is RM400, and if it was a surgical case, it is RM800-00. Operation charges can range from RM50 to RM3,000 depending on the type of operation. Ultrasound cost RM100. Radiology charges range from RM50-RM600. Lab charges range from RM5 to RM100 depending on the type of tests, and usually there will be quite a lot of tests needed. So, really do we think that RM1,000 coverage is sufficient? I believe that there are certain that there are other insurance policies in the market that provides better coverage...

It is also wrong to impose a new obligation to buy insurance on migrant workers already here and working in Malaysia. It could be done for new migrant workers - who then at least the opportunity whether they do want to come work in Malaysia or not.

Personally, I am of the opinion that all medical and healthcare charges should already have been borne by the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952 (amended 1996) that now provides 24 hour coverage to the migrant worker. If the provisions do not provide enough payment for medical treatment at government healthcare facilities, then the Act needs to be amended. If sickness, i.e. not work related ailments and/or occupational diseases, are not covered maybe the scope of coverage should be covered. If there is be any additional insurance, then rightly it must be the employer who pays for it, and also for any medical charges over and beyond the coverage of the said insurance policy. If there outstanding medical bills, it must be the employer that is penalised by way of a fine or being 'blacklisted' from being to employ new migrant workers, the present migrant worker's work permit must never be held as ransom until outstanding payments are made. We are talking about human beings here - not some car or motorcycle.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- Employees covered by the Foreign Workers Hospitalisation and Surgical Insurance Scheme need not pay a deposit or produce a guarantee letter to be admitted to a government hospital.

"These foreign workers only need to produce their passport at the registration counter," Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Friday.

This followed the implementation of the Foreign Workers Health Insurance Protection Scheme on Jan 1 which provides for cashless admission, he said in a statement.

The insurance scheme provides coverage of up to RM1,000 with premium payment of RM120 a year.

Liow said that employers of plantation workers and housemaids are required to finance the insurance policies while other foreign employees must pay for themselves.

The foreign workers are given three months to buy the insurance policies.

"For this group, the premium payment imposed by the insurance company will be based on the remaining period of validity of the work permit," Liow said.

"Those who fail to do this (buy insurance policies) will not be allowed to renew their work permits."

Employers who advance premium payments for their workers must seek permission from the head of the manpower department to deduct from employees' salaries.

Liow said that any outstanding hospital bill must be settled by the foreign worker concerned or his employer before a work permit can be renewed.

Liow said that 17 companies have agreed to take part in the scheme, 11 of them from Jan 1.

The 11 are AXA Affin General Insurance Bhd, Berjaya Sompo Insurance Bhd, Jerneh Insurance Bhd, Kurnia Insurans (Malaysia) Bhd, Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd, MUI Continental Insurance Bhd, Progressive Insurance Bhd, RHB Insurance Bhd, The Pacific Insurance Bhd and Tokio Marine Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd.

Allianz General Insurance Company (Malaysia) Bhd, QBE Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd, Overseas Assurance Corporation (M) Bhd and Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd will start their policies on Feb 1 while Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd will begin theirs on Feb 15.

-- BERNAMA- Bernama, 7/1/2011, Foreign Workers With Insurance May Enter Hospital Without Deposit