A group of Chinese fortune hunters came to Malaysia to realize their dreams. Not earning a penny, they were accused of overdue stay in Malaysia. Now the 108 Chinese workers, including 15 women, sleep in the street and do not have enough food to eat while waiting for their exit visas to go home.

These workers are from Guangdong, Fujian, Heilongjiang, Tianjin, Shandong and Jiangsu. Before they went to Malaysia, they all signed contracts with so-called labor-export service agents.

Swallow the lies of labor agencies

All these victims were told by their labor-export agencies that their daily income in Malaysia would reach 500-600 yuan (US$60-72). If they work harder, they would earn even more because Malaysia is a heaven for laborers. After swallowing the lies of these agencies, the fortune hunters paid an agent fee of 30,000-40,000 yuan (US$3,622-4,829) before they came to Malaysia, believing they were on the way to a bright future.

Only after they entered Malaysia, did they find what they saw was totally different from what they had been told. Many workers earned nothing after several months' hard working at the workplaces arranged by the labor agencies. Even worse, they found that even their work permits were fake.

Xiao Fang, 35, a native of Guangdong, has been in Malaysia for several months. He said his income was not stable; sometimes he got a little sum of money, sometimes nothing. He tried to change the situation but there was little he could do because he could not find another job with his false permit. "Our living condition was very bad. Sometimes the boss only provides us two meals a day."

The Chinese workers' legal rights couldn't be protected by Malaysian laws because of their unlawful work permits. Like many of his Chinese fellow-workers, Xiao Fang escaped from the construction site where he was sent to work. They wanted to go home, so they came to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China to Malaysia to seek help. However, without a penny, they had to sleep in the street while waiting for their exit visas. They live in the alleyway outside the Bank of China building which is located in Anbang Road, Kuala Lumpur, sleeping on plastic sheets or straw mats. Policemen were sent there to keep order for there has gathered a big group of such Chinese workers.

The labor market in Malaysia not opened

Currently, most of the Chinese citizens who come to Malaysia for jobs enter the county with tourist or business visas. They paid agent fees before they left China, but cannot find any job in Malaysia. In April this year, 61 Chinese workers, most of whom were builders from Taizhou and Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, were sent back to China by the Malaysian authorities due to this reason.

The Chinese Embassy to Malaysia and the Ministry of Commerce have warned Chinese citizens repeatedly that the labor market of Malaysia is not yet open to China. Besides the bilateral cooperation projects which are confirmed by both Malaysian and Chinese governments, other labor-related behaviors are all illegal, no matter what kind of visa one is holding. Furthermore, Malaysia has revised its migration law. The punishments to illegal foreign laborers are stricter than before.

According to the Migration Law of Malaysia, overdue stay and illegal foreign laborers shall be punished with forfeit, custody or being caned.
 
Cooperation needed to crack down on illegal labor agencies

Wang Chungui, Chinese ambassador to Malaysia, said on May 12 that cooperation between the two countries is needed to crack down on illegal labor agencies and to regulate the labor export and import affairs.

Earlier this year, during their visit to China, officials from the Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia said that Malaysia would like to hire skilled workers with working experience of over five years from China. Before these workers set for Malaysia, they should attend training courses to learn about the culture and custom of Malaysia. Officials from Malaysia also hoped that China could appoint 20 legal labor agencies to handle related affairs.

Ambassador Wang Chungui said that cooperation in labor export between China and Malaysia is under negotiation, and an agreement is expected to be signed in later May during Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's visit to China.

(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan, May 20, 2004)