Human Rights Watch
London, November 23, 2004
The Malaysian government’s plan to begin arresting and deporting hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrant workers in the coming weeks may result in widespread rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Refugees and victims of human trafficking may be caught up in the sweeps and deported instead of receiving protection.
“When Malaysia conducted mass deportations two years ago, dozens of migrant workers died of dehydration and disease while stranded in transit areas for months,” said LaShawn R. Jefferson, executive director of the Women’s Rights
division of Human Rights Watch. “These deportations will only drive refugees and trafficking victims deeper underground and put them at greater risk of
exploitation.”
Malaysian authorities plan to begin arresting undocumented migrants in December or January. According to the Immigration Department, Malaysian authorities will conduct a 14-day investigation into each case and then press charges against undocumented migrants in federal courts. Those found guilty under the Immigration Act of 2002 may be caned, imprisoned for five years, fined heavily, and detained indefinitely pending deportation. Last year, some 9,000 migrants were caned in Malaysia.
Approximately two million migrants work in Malaysia, primarily in construction,
palm oil plantations and domestic service. More than one million lack valid
work permits. Many of these migrants will likely be deported back to Indonesia,
Bangladesh, India or the Philippines without receiving their full wages for
months of work.
Human Rights Watch expressed grave concern about the potential for a wide range of human rights abuses during the expulsions. These include the use of
excessive force during immigration raids and the prolonged detention of
migrants in unsanitary conditions. Malaysia’s national human rights commission,
S.U.H.A.K.A.M., has documented the overcrowded conditions of Malaysia’s
detention centers.
Human Rights Watch also noted that Malaysian authorities may fail to
distinguish trafficking victims, abused migrant workers and refugees from other
undocumented migrants, deporting them instead of providing assistance. S.U.H.A.K.A.M. has noted that many foreign women currently in Malaysia’s prisons are actually trafficking victims.
In an ominous move, the Malaysian government is planning to grant authority to 400,000 civilian members of the Rukun Tetangga and the Rela, volunteer
neighborhood security associations, to conduct immigration raids and arrests.
Under current proposals, these civilians will receive minimal training, and
will obtain significant cash rewards for each migrant apprehended. Human Rights Watch called on Malaysia’s Home Ministry to rescind this plan.
“Allowing civilian groups to conduct immigration raids and arrests encourages
vigilantism and undermines the rule of law.” said Jefferson.
The Malaysian government should institute adequate screening programs to
identify abused migrant workers, trafficking victims and refugees, and it must
provide for the protection of these vulnerable individuals. It should also
amend the Immigration Act of 2002 to remove provisions for long-term
imprisonment and other harsh or disproportionate penalties, including caning.
The United Nations High Commission on Refugees has estimated that 28,000
refugees currently live in Malaysia. About 10,000 are from the war-torn Aceh
region of Indonesia, and another 10,000 are members of Burma’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Human Rights Watch welcomes Malaysia’s recent measure to grant the Rohingya permission to remain in the country. But the plight of other refugee groups, particularly the Acehnese, who may face torture if sent back to
Indonesia, remains uncertain.
Migrants facing abuse from their employers will likely be swept up in these
raids with little protection. As Human Rights Watch has previously reported,
Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia often work grueling 16 to 18 hour days, seven days a week, and earn less than 25 U.S. cents per hour. Some suffer physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their employers. Malaysia and
Indonesia recently shelved plans to create a labor agreement guiding the
recruitment and protection of domestic workers.
If a domestic worker runs away from her employer, she loses her legal status.
Seventeen thousand domestic workers left their employers in 2003, and many of these cases may have involved some form of abuse. The Malaysian government has not indicated how it will respond to such complaints by arrested migrants.
Under an amnesty ending in December, undocumented migrants may leave the
country without penalty. More than 80,000 migrants, mostly Indonesian, have
left. The Indonesian government has begun setting up shelters and support
services for returning migrants at entry points into Indonesia, but it remains
unclear whether these arrangements will be sufficient to handle hundreds of
thousands of returnees and to avoid the deaths and other abuses that occurred
in mid-2002.
===========================
For more information on Indonesian Migrant Workers in Malaysia see:
“Help Wanted: Abuses against Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Indonesia and Malaysia,” at http://hrw.org/reports/2004/indonesia0704/
Also available in Bahasa Indonesia: http://hrw.org/indonesian/reports/2004/indonesia0704/
For more information on the situation of Acehnese refugees in Malaysia see:
“Aceh Under Martial Law: Problems Faced by Acehnese Refugees in Malaysia.”
http://hrw.org/reports/2004/malaysia0404/
