PETALING JAYA: An NGO has urged Putrajaya to adopt measures in line with International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions to protect domestic and migrant workers ahead of International Migrants Day tomorrow.
In a statement, Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor executive director Irene Xavier cited ILO Convention 189 and Convention 190 which touch on the rights of domestic workers and protection of all migrant workers from violence and harassment.
She said adopting such measures will improve the country’s labour standards and benefit migrant workers and Malaysia’s image in the eyes of international investors.
Irene said migrant workers should also have rights to affordable healthcare and recourse without fear of deportation.
“These decisive bold steps in the protection of all human beings who enter the country will help the nation recover quickly from a ravaging pandemic, stave off the spread of new coronavirus strains and reboot the economic development of Malaysia in an upward trend amid a new normal,” she said.
She said Putrajaya must recognise that migrant workers, particularly domestic workers who are excluded from much of the Employment Act, have fallen deeper into “servitude and forced labour”.
Domestic workers, she said, had less access to protection owing to “unjust voids” in existing laws, and any abuses go unreported unless there is a death.
She cited the case of Adelina Lisao, a domestic worker who died in hospital after allegedly being abused by her employer.
Her employer was acquitted of the murder charge by the Penang High Court after the deputy public prosecutor requested a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
The Court of Appeal later upheld the decision to acquit her.