34,923 whippings were carried out for immigration offences between 2002 and 2008.

KUALA LUMPUR: Stop whipping illegal immigrants as a form of punishment, Amnesty International urged Malaysia.

It also criticised attempts by the Government to muzzle freedom of expression.

Under Malaysian law, those staying in the country illegally are subject to a mandatory six lashes of the cane, fines and up to five years in jail.

“Degrading methods of punishment such as whipping should cease immediately if Malaysia has accepted to uphold the protection of human dignity,” said Nora Murat, Amnesty’s Malaysia executive director.

The whipping sentence was added to Malaysian immigration laws in 2002 amid concern over the ramifications of having a large migrant workforce.

In the Malaysia chapter of its 2010 human rights annual report released on Thursday, the London-based group said 34,923 whippings were carried out for immigration offences between 2002 and 2008.

Malaysia, South-East Asia’s third-largest economy, has 2.2 million migrant workers, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors.

Amnesty also criticised the Government for attempting to silence bloggers with the threat of jail sentences, and breaking up peaceful protests.

“Even a silent candlelight vigil was condemned (by the Govern­ment), with protesters arrested, thus denying the public the right to peaceful assembly,” Nora said. — AFP - Star, 29/5/2010, Stop whipping illegals, Amnesty tells Malaysia

Advance Domestic Worker Rights: Recognise Their Right to Collective Representation

For your endorsement,

In solidarity

Pranom Somowng




Dear Friends,


In the lead up to our advocacy at the International Labour Conference in Geneva this June, APWLD on behalf of UFDWR would like to draw your attention to our statement calling for the Advancement of Domestic Worker Rights and specifically the Recognition of Domestic Worker Rights to Organise.


Please read the statement below (also attached) and click on this link to endorse the statement on behalf of your organisation. Endorsements will be collected until Friday May 21st.




CLICK HERE TO ENDORSE THE STATEMENT ;

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGZrVWM2LTlpTHZOZVh2Q3lZQUZOQVE6MQ


(This will take less than 30 seconds to complete)

Thank you for your time. We hope that through our collective action we can ensure the International Labour Conference results in an instrument that protects and promotes the right of domestic workers to collectively organise. Without your help in achieving this right, all others are unachievable.



In Solidarity,




UFDWR


Advance Domestic Worker Rights:


Recognise Their Right to Collective Representation



The rights to organise, to collectively bargain, to form and join unions and to select representatives of one’s own choosing are fundamental human rights, claimed by workers as long ago as 1948. These ‘freedom of association’ rights allow workers to realise other rights including; decent work, health and safety, fair wages, fair working hours, fair conditions and freedom from abuse and intimidation. The International Labour Conference (ILC) must result in an instrument(s) that protects and promotes the right of domestic workers to collectively organise. Without that right, all others are unachievable.



APWLD, on behalf of the United for Foreign Domestic Worker Rights (UFDWR) coalition, conducted a review of laws in ten sending and receiving countries in Asia . The review found that, in summary,[1] labour laws of most countries do not recognise domestic workers as workers, resulting in the denial of their basic labour and human rights.



Domestic workers routinely work 16-18 hours a day every day of the week, are denied holidays, are underpaid or not paid at all for long periods, are abused, harassed, confined in the house, restricted from contact with families members and friends, and are terminated without notice. Migrant domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, with threats of deportation, discriminatory labour laws, language barriers, withholding of documents by employers, and predatory recruitment agencies.



The deficiency of legislative protections for Domestic Workers allows recruitment agencies and employers to act with impunity as they exploit the most vulnerable sector of workers. Only half of the countries studied in the paper protect domestic workers freedom of association and right to organise. Only three of the ten countries include domestic workers in their labour laws and only one provides full labour protection to domestic workers, including migrant domestic workers. Laws that prevent migrants from forming unions and from holding union positions discriminate against migrant domestic workers and violate Article 2 of the ICCPR, which protects the rights of all individuals within the state territory, without discrimination. Furthermore, without the right to a weekly day off and with employers restricting the movements, and ability of domestic workers to leave the house, collective organising is impossible for almost all domestic workers in the region.



With concerted and immediate action, the ILO, countries of origin and countries of destination, unions, associations and the international community can, and must, enable domestic workers to claim and advance their human rights. The undersigned organisations endorse the following recommendations:



To the International Labour Organisation (ILO)


While the instrument(s) on domestic workers is finalised, the ILO needs to ensure that:


• Domestic workers, particularly migrant domestic workers, are given a voice during the ILC and throughout the process of developing the instrument(s) and implementation;


• Domestic workers representatives are included in their country delegations for the discussions on setting a domestic worker instrument(s);


• The rights of domestic workers to freely associate and to organise are protected by any such instrument, including protecting weekly time off and leave with pay, and prohibiting termination on grounds of being a member of, or participating in, trade union and other social activities;


• Undocumented migrant domestic workers are recognised as workers in the instrument to protect all domestic workers irrespective of their migratory status; and


• The current lack of national legislation should not be used as grounds for rejecting a binding convention.

To Governments of All Countries

To protect domestic workers all governments should:

• Ratify all international conventions and instruments on the freedom of association, right to organise and on migrant workers;


• Amend the labour law to include all domestic workers as workers in the law, including the provision of at least one paid day off per week and afford them all protections provided to other workers in a standard labour contract;


• Ensure labour laws promote and protect freedom of association, the right to organise and to form and join trade unions rights for domestic workers and allow multiple workplaces to be included in collective bargaining;


• Ensure labour laws are non-discriminatory and allow all domestic workers to form unions and associations, and hold union offices;


• Establish complaints mechanisms and provide information on domestic workers’ labour rights in the workers own language;


• Conduct mass public information campaigns to educate domestic workers, recruitment agencies, and employers about domestic workers’ rights and complaint mechanisms; and


• Establish and revise memorandum of understandings (MoUs), multilateral or bilateral agreements with other countries to protect migrant domestic workers’ rights.



To Governments of Destination Countries


To protect migrant domestic workers the governments of destination countries should also:

• Afford the same labour and human rights to migrant workers as to that of citizens to remove discrimination towards migrant workers;


• Prohibit the holding of documents by recruitment agencies or household employers and create reporting mechanisms;


• Recognise the rights of migrant workers contained in standard contracts, remove all laws or policies that are prohibitive to, or discriminate towards, the ability of migrant workers to seek and receive justice;


• Regulate recruitment agencies as intermediaries, rather than as employers, and limit their fees;


• Allow for the changing of recruitment agencies and of the employers by domestic workers, and for direct hiring opportunities; and


• Encourage tolerance and respect between migrant domestic workers, employers and society, in order to combat and eliminate all forms of discrimination, xenophobia and tension.



To Trade Unions and Domestic Worker Organisations


To promote the rights of domestic workers, trade unions and other organisations should:

• Include domestic workers and representatives of domestic worker organisations in Trade Union delegations to the ILC and support the proposed instrument(s) to protect the rights of domestic workers;


• Lobby governments to ratify any proposed instrument(s) on domestic workers and to amended the law to protect the rights of domestic workers;


• Encourage participation, member recruitment and support domestic workers organisation in registering as formal trade unions;


• In countries where domestic workers are not able to join or form registered trade unions, lobby the government to change the laws and continue to advocate for domestic workers where possible;


• Support informal groups and associations of domestic workers to build their capacity and to join with other workers groups;


• Assist migrant domestic workers and their organisations in their access to justice and to support mechanisms; and


• Conduct mass media campaigns and other initiatives to inform domestic workers of their rights, complaints mechanisms and the benefits of collective organising.




For more information on the briefing paper, please contact:


Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
Ph: (66) 53 284527 Fax: (66) 53 280847
philippa@apwld.org www.apwld.org
Empowering women to use law as an instrument of change and promoting women's human rights in the Asia Pacific region. APWLD is a core member of UFDWR.



________________________________________
[1] The national labour laws and right to collective representation of domestic workers in the ten Asian countries of Bangladesh, Hong Kong , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Sri Lanka , Taiwan and Thailand , were studied and the information collated into a briefing paper available early-June on the APWLD website: http://www.apwld.org/index.php

Electronics workers to get 4 regional unions soon (Star, 1/5/2010)

KUALA LUMPUR: Electronics industry workers can rejoice this Labour Day because although the Government still rejects a national union for them, the registration of four regional unions is almost complete.

The Department of Trade Union Affairs has to date registered three regional Electronics Employees Unions in the peninsular - the Western Region on Dec 1, 2009 (covering Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Perak); Southern Region on March 11 (Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan); and Union Northern Region on March 31 (Penang, Kedah and Perlis).

The Eastern Region, which covers Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang was still in the process of registration, said the Western Region union general secretary Bruno Periera.

“This is the first time in the history of Malaysian workers that a union has been broken up into regions.

“It was the decision of the Cabinet on May 27 last year that only unions at regional level would be allowed, unlike the national unions for the other industries,” he said in a statement.

Periera said the first attempt to be unionised nationally failed when the authorities forbade the Electrical Industry Workers’ Union to accept electronics workers as members, saying they were in two different sectors.

An attempt in the 1980s to set up its own national union also failed because government policy then was for in-house unions in the electronics sector only.

Citing other failed attempts over the decades, he said there were around 12 registered in-house unions with about 12,000 members.

“The electronics industry has been in Malaysia for over 35 years and it has raked in millions of ringgit in profits, but there has been little improvement for the employees.

“There is a huge difference in salaries between the employees and the management.

“In fact, it can be said that there has been no real salary increase from the 1970s to now, with a base salary of between RM350 to RM700 for operators, with most of them earning RM450 a month.”

Bernama reported that this issue had been a thorn in the flesh for the government since the early 70s when electronic multinationals first began making Malaysia their base to produce electronic chips and products.

The workers, represented by MTUC had demonstrated, protested and complained to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) over the last 40 years on the country's refusal to allow workers in this sector to unionise.

"Internationally, at almost at every ILO conference, the Malaysian labour minister was criticised and queried about this issue, and locally at every workers meeting, this issue was hotly debated," veteran trade unionist and past MTUC president Datuk Zainal Rampak told Bernama. As a result, the Malaysian government had a hard time convincing the international and local workers movement of its efforts to protect workers.

As a compromise, the government allowed these workers to form in-house unions but this was not accepted because the workers were still being exploited, he said.

Moreover, only 12,000 to 15,000 workers were members of these in-house unions which translated to a mere 5% of the total workforce in the industry.

He added the classic case was a company called Harris Advanced Technology Sdn Bhd which changed its name six times thus disallowing the workers to form an in-house union.- Star, 1/5/2010, Electronics workers to get 4 regional unions soon

Deaths of Migrants Must be Investigated

Mekong Migration Network ( MMN)


Press Release:


Deaths of Migrants Must be Investigated


March 17th 2010


On February 25th 2010, in Pak Nam sub-district, Ranong province, soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division fired on a pickup truck carrying 13 undocumented migrant workers from Burma, resulting in the deaths of three migrant children. Those killed were a three or four year old, six or seven year old girl, and a 16-year-old boy. Five others were also injured during the shooting .

On March 9th 2010, in Phuket, a 20-year-old woman and a young girl from Burma drowned in a river while fleeing from the police who arrived at the worker’s quarters at night. The woman had a work permit and was enrolled in the new nationality verification program and the girl was holding the temporary identification document (Tor Ror 38/1). According to a witness, workers nearby were too afraid to go and rescue the drowning pair, as the police held them off at gun point.

The Mekong Migration Network (MMN), a sub-regional network of 38 member organisations working together to protect migrants’ rights in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), is appalled by such tragic deaths of innocent children and women. These deaths would have been avoided if proper procedures had been followed and if the safety and well-being of migrants was respected.

In 2006-2007, the MMN conducted collaborative research on the arrest, detention and deportation (“ADD”) of migrant workers in the GMS and highlighted serious human rights abuses, as well as a lack of transparency and accountability during processes that involved ADD. While MMN’s core recommendation is that policies be amended so that migrants are not constantly at risk of arrest, detention and deportation, in the event that migrants are arrested, detained or deported, we called for the procedures to be carried out in a humane, safe and transparent manner and only by authorized, trained authorities. .





In response to these latest tragedies, The Mekong Migration Network urgently calls for the Royal Thai Government to:

1. Conduct full and impartial investigations into these events to ensure that the authorities involved are held liable for their actions.

2. Facilitate access to justice for the victims and their families and ensure that they receive adequate redress.

3. Take immediate steps to ensure that the relevant authorities enforce safe and humane procedures during the arrest and deportation of migrant workers according to the Thai Criminal Procedure Code; the 1997 Measures in Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act (Section 9); and Article 22 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant workers and their Families (1999).

4. Address the level of fear and insecurity that has been created in the migrant community which leads to even fully documented migrants being terrified of uniformed officers.

Wrongful termination because they asked the employer to follow the law on Levy deduction!

Today workers are in tripartite negotiation with employer and labour department . We hope they can reach agreement soon and workers will be entitling to their rights such as salary, levy deduction and other compensations.



Myanmar workers laid off without valid notice

Submitted by pekwan on Monday, March 15th, 2010


Monday, March 15th, 2010 12:12:00



ALL¬ROUND MISERY: Myanmar workers live in shabby conditions — Pic: HUSSEIN SHAHARUDDIN
KUALA LUMPUR: In Myanmar, US$850 (about RM2,900) is enough to sustain a person comfortably for a year, and that's what Zar Ni Swe from Yangon paid to an agent to get a job as a waitress in a restaurant in Malaysia.
But on Feb 15, the second day of the Chinese New Year, Ni Swe, along with 25 other Myanmar waiters and waitresses at Jogoya Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, were given a week's notice that their services were no longer required.
This heart-breaking news was conveyed to them in a memo which gave no reason nor was it signed.
On top of that, the memo had more bad news — the first part dealt with Myanmar waiters who had savings, and the second part for those who didn't have money.
In the case of Ni Swe, she was asked to pay a RM450 levy to the restaurant, also a month's salary of RM150 as compensation for her "previous mistakes" (no matter whether she was at fault or not) and also immigration costs of RM150.

Those with no savings were told to work for another company until they paid their dues to get their passports back.
Ni Swe, who worked for almost four years, had the courage to ask the restaurant management why she and her countrymen and women were given a week's notice when it should have been a three months'. No satisfactory answer was given.

Allegedly too, the restaurant had not paid their February salary. What followed were frantic attempts to seek help from their agents in Myanmar ("We cannot help") and Malaysia ("We cannot help too"), embassy of Myanmar ("Call your agents"), the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, or Suhakam ("Wait for labour office to investigate"), police ("Call your agents") and the Federal Territory Department of Labour ("Give us some time to investigate").
A closer look at the hostel where Ni Swe and another 69 Myanmars were staying.

The hostel is a four-storey building at Jalan Changkat Thamby Dollah. The restaurant and storeroom are on the first floor, the male workers live on the second floor and the females live on the third floor.


From Malaymail

56 groups; open letter to ASEAN; Justice for Workers in Burma

Open Letter


19 February 2010


Dr Surin Pitsuwan,
Secretary General of ASEAN,
The ASEAN Secretariat,
70A Jl. Sisingamangaraja,
Jakarta 12110, Indonesia
Tel : (6221) 7262991, 7243372
Fax : (6221) 7398234, 7243504

Heads of Government of
Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Lao PDR, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand & Viet Nam,
c/o Secretary General of ASEAN



Dear Sirs/Madam,



Re: Justice for Workers in Burma
3,600 Workers Protest for Worker Rights – February 2010



On 8/2/2010, about 3,600 factory workers, mostly women, from 3 factories in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone in Rangoon, Burma, protested against low wages and the substandard working conditions they are forced to endure in the factories.


It was reported that the workers at the Taiyee shoe factory and the Opal 2 garment factory began protests on Monday calling for higher daily wages, overtime payments and several other demands. On Tuesday, workers from the Kya Lay garment factory joined the strike action.


The workers, mostly women, staged protests outside the factories and inside a factory compound, where they sat down and refused to work. The three factories employ a total of about 3,600 workers.


The monthly income of most factory workers in Burma is very low, ranging from 20,000 kyat [USD20] to 40,000 kyat [USD40], thus forcing many workers to work overtime. Most workers work from 7 am to 11 pm daily. Many factory owners employ temporary workers who have no legal recourse if they are fired without compensation, according to former factory workers in Rangoon. More than 80 percent of factory workers in Rangoon work on a day-to-day basis. Most are young women between 15 and 27 years of age who come from the countryside in search of a better living.
[The Irrawaddy, Authorities Threaten Violence at Rangoon Strike – http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17771]


The workers’ demands in these actions, for example, with regard to wages, as was reported, are for a mere USD10 increase per month.



The Burmese government’s response to this legitimate industrial action by workers was excessive and oppressive It was reported that, the “…Authorities used barbed wire barricades to block roads leading to the factories in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone in the city's north-east, and more than 50 truckloads of riot police carrying batons and shields were deployed and at least six fire engines and five prison vans were parked near the factories…” [AP - Straits Times, 10/2/2010, Myanmar workers on strike]



Today (19/2/2010) although the workers are back in the factories, they continue demanding for their rights. In Burma, they are even more vulnerable and powerless without a change in the existing laws to allow the right to assembly and to allow workers the right to form unions.



Burma is a member of ASEAN, and as such we call upon ASEAN and all ASEAN member countries to do the needful to ensure that workers in Burma, just like other workers in other ASEAN countries, also receive just wages, have a safe and healthy working environment, enjoy the right to form unions and all other universally acknowledged worker and human rights.



We also call on ASEAN, and ASEAN member countries to closely monitor the current situation at the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone, and ensure that these workers rights are recognized and respected, and that the Burmese government refrains from further interfering in this pursuit of rights by workers in Burma.



Further, on 23 October 2009, the Heads of State/Government of ASEAN presided over the Inaugural Ceremony of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), during which they also announced the “Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Inauguration of the AICHR” to pledge full support to this new ASEAN body and emphasize their commitment to further develop cooperation to promote and protect human rights in the region.



Noting that the primary purpose of the AICHR is to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of the peoples of ASEAN, we hope that the AICHR will begin proving that it is not merely a toothless tiger by ensuring that the human rights of these workers in Burma are promoted and protected.



Many ASEAN member countries, like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, invest significantly in Burma. We hope that these economic and other self-interest considerations will not affect the way ASEAN, and its member nations, response to human rights violations of the ordinary people and workers in ASEAN.



I look forward to hearing your response,



Yours sincerely,



-sgd-
Pranom Somwong
Charles Hector

3585A Kg Lubuk Layang,
Batu 3, Jalan Mentakab,
28000 Temerloh, Pahang, Malaysia.

Email:- p_somwong@yahoo.com ; chef@tm.net.my




For and on behalf of the 56 Organizations/groups listed below:


ALTSEAN-BURMA
All Kachin Students and Youth Union
All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Foreign Affairs' Committee)
Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and development (APWLD)
Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)
Asian Migrants Center(AMC)
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) – Youth and Women
'Alltogether', the South Korean left organization
Amnesty International Philippines
Batis Aware, Philippines
Burma Global Action Network
Burmese Women's Union (BWU)
Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan
Burma Campaign, Malaysia
Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB)
Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) Philippines
Center for Overseas Workers (COW)
Coalition against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific
Chin Democracy and Human Rights Network (South Korea)
Civil Society Committee of LLG Cultural Development Centre Bhd(LLGCSC), Malaysia
Committee for Asian Women (CAW)
Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM) Asia
Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS)
Empower Foundation, Thailand
Free Burma Coalition Philippines (FBC-Philippines)
Free Burma Coalition – Philippines (Women's Committee)
Foundation for Education and Development, Thailand
Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB)
Human Rights and Development Foundation (Thailand)
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
JERIT (Oppressed People's Network, Malaysia)
Kachin Development Networking Group
Korean House for International Solidarity, KHIS
Labour Behind the Label, United Kingdom
MAP Foundation, Thailand
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)
MSC/NWC- Sri Lanka,
MAKALAYA (Women Workers Network)
Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)
National League for Democracy [NLD (LA)], Malaysia
Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)
Network for Democracy and Development
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (Socialist Party of Malaysia, PSM)
Pagkakaisa ng Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan (KAISA-KA)
Piglas Kababaihan
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM - Workers' Party)
Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants' Trade union (MTU), Korea
Studio Xang Art for Migrant Children,Thailand
Thai Labour Campaign (TLC), Thailand
Think Center (Singapore)
The Action Network for Migrants (ANM), Thailand
The Shan Refugee Organization (SRO), Malaysia
Task Force on ASEAN and Burma (TFAB)
Worker Hub for Change (WH4C)
Women Health, Philippines
World March for Women - Philippines



c.c. Workers in Burma - solidarityburma@gmail.com

Malaysia Cracks Down on Migrants

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17829&Submit=Submit


By ALEX ELLGEE Wednesday, February 17, 2010


The crackdown in Malayisa on illegal workers began on Sunday with the Negri Sembilan Immigration Department arresting 116 foreigners, according to its director Pisal Mustafa.

Thirteen of those arrested in the western Malaysian state had come from Burma, he said, with 68 from Indonesia and the rest originating from India, Cambodia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Nigeria and Nepal. All were aged between 22 and 38.

The migrants were arrested for overstaying their visas and/ or not being in possession of travel documents, and were sent to Lenggeng detention center. Thirty immigration officers were involved in the operation, codenamed “Ops Kutip,” he said.

However, Pranom Somwong, a coordinator for Workers Hub For Change and Network for Action on Migrants in Malaysia told The Irrawaddy she had received reports from the Burmese workers that they were, in fact, in possession of travel documents.

“We’ve been told that some of the workers who were arrested over the weekend were holding travel documents. When the police came, the workers tried to show their documents but were beaten up by the police,” she said.

Human rights groups are concerned about what awaits those arrested at the Lenggeng detention center, where abuses have been frequently documented.

“Having interviewed several people who have been detained there I can tell you it’s extremely overcrowded and new arrivals are forced to sleep outside without blankets,” a representative for an ethnic refugee organization told The Irrawaddy.

“There are only eight toilets for nearly 1,500 people, and the food they receive is inadequate. It took three months for UNHCR card holders to be released,” he added.

According to the coordinator of a local labor rights organization, police have also been conducting raids in Chinatown district in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, he said many Burmese were among those detained. He said that “plain-clothes police rounded up the workers and bundled them into police wagons. Although the trucks are suitable for no more than 30 persons, they were putting about 40 persons in each one.

“Most of them were released from the police station because their documents were in order,” he said, adding that the raids have been a nightly occurence this week.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian home minister has told the national press that the authorities hope to create a system which will allow them to monitor “each and every foreigner” who enters Malaysia.

Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said they hope this will create an environment in which illegal immigrants would “feel afraid and threatened, and be prepared to leave the country immediately.”

Commenting on the home minister's statement, Pranom Somwong said she felt it wasn’t the appropriate way to deal with the problem.

“It seems like the government wants to make every foreigner––even if you have passport or visa––afraid to live in Malaysia. This type of language gives a green light to the police to carry out heavy-handed raids with impunity,” she said.

“The Burmese migrant communities are very worried. The raids are going on every day. There are reports on the TV all day in which they only blame the workers. Instead they need to pressure the employers to document the workers,” she said.

According to Malaysia's Home Ministry, last year Malaysian authorities carried out 7,099 operations against illegal immigrants, which saw 47,310 people being detained, including 26,545 cases of illegal entry and 8,655 cases of overstaying.