17 September 2007 - On Friday, 14th September 2007, 150 Bangladeshi demonstrating workers have been forced out of the Bangladeshi High Commission after 5 days on hunger strike. The group of Bangladeshi protesters was seeking for alternative employments and reparations after being cheated by recruiting agents in their country of origin and mishandled at the work place in Malaysia. They demonstrated in the Bangladeshi High Commission for the recognition of their rights and appealed for the support of the Bangladeshi Mission.
On the evening under the premise of the Labour counsellor (who denied the attack the next day but stated that such demonstrations tarnish the Bangladeshi image abroad) Bangladeshi officials assisted by local law enforcers and recruiting agents assaulted the Bangladeshi demonstrators and packed the group into buses, which conducted them at a place 8 hours far away from the High Commission. However others Bangladeshi hunger strikers counterattacked and put to flight the recruiting agents. The attack resulted in 25 Bangladeshi beaten.
Meanwhile hundreds of Bangladeshi workers, immigrated in Malaysia with the promise of high paying employment and fair working conditions, were shoved into the car park of the Kuala Lumpur International airport transformed by the Immigration Department into a temporary shelter, since no employers came to pick them up. As per Malaysian agents, the reason of such plight is “a miscommunication between Malaysia and Bangladesh”.
Detained in the parking of the airport the Bangladeshi workers are now looking forward whether to their eagerly awaited employers, to another employment alternative or to the more likely deportation.
Following the last events occurred in Malaysia the organizations WARBE, SHOSTI, BOMSA and HRDIC (Human Rights Development Information Centre) jointly organized a protest Press Conference on the issues “Repression on Bangladeshis working in Malaysia” in order to highlight the aggravation of the living & working conditions of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia and to express solidarity with the Bangladeshi emigrants set to suffer more and more from fallacious recruitment procedures and exploitation in Malaysia. The programme was held on Monday 17 September 2007 at the Dhaka Reporters Unity Auditorium.
Retired ambassador of Bangladesh foreign ministry Mr. Kamaluddin Ahmed attended the programme as the guest speaker. A statement from the organizers was read out.
During the session the organizers urged the government:
- to include members of the Civil Society Organizations in the enquiry committee in order to represent the interest of the migrants.
- to provide the victims of this type of fraudulent recruitment procedure with alternative employment opportunities in Malaysia or safe repatriation and compensations in Bangladesh.
- to ratify the 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Member of Their Families in order to ensure the rights of the migrant community.
- to implement legal framework to fight for the rights and ensure the welfare of migrant workers.
- to disseminate accurate and adequate information to the potential migrants for safe migration.
Miss Sumaiya Islam from BOMSA pointed out the current practice of ‘outsourcing” as the main reason behind the sufferings of the migrant workers and urged for the immediate abolition of this practice.
In response to an enquiry on the mysterious closing down of Bangladesh counter in Malaysian home ministry, Mr. Ahmed said that it would not be proper to approach Malaysia in this regard directly and harshly. Because much more important things like trade and investment are at stake here. He further said that more officers with positive mentality should be appointed to the section, which deals with labour migrants in missions abroad.
A statement sent by fax at the conference from Malaysia based organization Tenaganita was read out. Tenaganita expressed solidarity with the protesters and demanded the creation of a transparent investigation committee.
Mr. Syed Saiful Haque from WARBE, wrapped up the session by urging all stakeholders at the national, regional and international level and specially the media to come forward and work hand in hand to save the migrants from abuse.
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