On June 18, my father rang me from our home in Gitanagar of Chitwan district. “What should we do? Are you there? Get the information on what we need to do, and that too as soon as possible!” He uttered everything in a single breath. My father has a husky voice but never speaks in a rush. As soon […]
Category: Malaysia
Hundreds of Nepali migrant workers never return home, not even in coffins. They simply disappear. There are plenty of stories about the high mortality rate of Nepali workers abroad, or migrants being cheated by recruiters. Less well known is the fact that many Nepalis simply disappear while working abroad. The Gulf countries and Malaysia have […]
In May 2016, while flying to Malaysia, I met Sohel. A 20-year-old boy from Barishal, the southern coastal district of Bangladesh, He was on the flight because he had been promised a well-paying job once he reached Malayasia by a labour broker in his village. For this verbal agreement, the broker took four hundred thousand […]
Man Bahadur Limbu went to Malaysia in 2002, hoping to escape poverty and war. He worked in a factory for four years and was allowed to visit his family only once, in 2004. He endured the burden of a loan, inhuman working conditions and separation from family. Man Bahadur, a fifth-grade dropout, ploughed his savings […]
Mizanur Rahman, a mason at a construction firm in Saudi Arabia, is worried about losing his job. His employer has recently expressed inability to continue some of the ongoing projects due to financial crisis. The lone breadwinner of a five-member family from Faridpur cannot even begin to imagine what would happen to his family if […]
Bangladeshis who came to Malaysia before August 2015 as a tourist or labourer can apply for legal worker status. But agents are making money by promising all migrant workers that they can help them obtain legal status. Even the main company involved with the legalization process of migrant workers, MYEG, is taking advantage of workers. […]
The maltreatment of migrants has led to many deaths and brought disgrace to the country besides obstructing long-term economic progress. By Joshua Woo Sze Zeng in Free Malaysia Today The Nepalese embassy’s recent report of 461 deaths of its workers in 2015 is a 32% increase from the 348 deaths in 2014. That is an […]
Almost 50 percent of migrant workers in Malaysian detention camps are from Bangladesh. The conditions here are often cruel and inhuman. The Bangladesh High Commission says there is lack of supervision in the camps; many of the charges against workers are not true. (As broadcast on Ekattor TV, Bangladesh.)
To avoid arrests, illegal/ undocumented workers in Malaysia are now living in forests and abandoned warehouses. Since they don’t have a visa or employment papers, they are in conflict with the police. On one hand, helpless Bangladeshi migrant workers are not getting jobs; on the other hand they cannot pay back the money they have […]
These migrant workers came to Malaysia via illegal sea routes and are passing their days in fear. They told Ekattor TV how their fellow travelers were submitted to brutal physical torture and some died of lack of food. Despite being able to earn a few Ringgit every month, they are destined to be unhappy. (As […]