Employees stuck in Malaysian ‘forced labour’ Toiling 12 hours a day in a Malaysian electronics factory amid broken promises on wages and working conditions, Manu dreams of returning to his poor Nepal village but is restrained by invisible shackles. As reported by the AFP, his passport has been illegally confiscated by his employers at the Japanese-owned plant on Kuala Lumpur’s gritty outskirts, and he is struggling to pay off recruitment fees he owes them. He faces additional fines if he leaves. Labour activists say such abuses are rife in Malaysia’s electronics manufacturing sector, a vital link in a global supply chain producing components for major brands like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and Samsung. Electronics account for one-third of the country’s exports. But at least one-third — possibly many more — of Malaysia’s 350,000 electronics workers face indentured servitude similar to “modern-day slavery,” a study released in September by US-based fair-labour group Verite said. “When I talk to my father on the phone, I tell him I can’t take this anymore,” said Manu, a pseudonym to protect against employer reprisals. Up to 60 percent of Malaysia’s electronics workers are estimated to be vulnerable foreigners from impoverished countries, and Verite said 94 percent of foreign labourers it surveyed had their passports seized. “The problems are both more severe and more numerous than we anticipated,” Verite CEO Dan Viederman told AFP. Nearly 36 million people worldwide are trapped in forced labour, Australia-based Walk Free Foundation said in November, an issue generating increasing global concern. In early December, world religious leaders from various faiths, including Pope Francis, signed a declaration pledging efforts to end slavery and human trafficking by 2020. punchng/business/international-business/employees-stuck-in-malaysian-forced-labour/ punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/App-logo.png [[Boost your social presence with NAIRALIKES nairalikes ]] #nigeria x #nairalikes #vanguardng
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 03:41:53 +0000