DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — About 100 Bangladeshi workers who were employed by Malaysian companies rallied Monday to demand unpaid wages, fair compensation and an end to alleged abuses by Malaysian employers.
The Migrant Welfare Network, a Bangladeshi migrant group based in Malaysia and Bangladesh, organized a protest at the Ministry of Migrant Welfare and Employment in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
The protesters said the event was organized to protest what they say widespread mistreatment of migrant workers in Malaysiaone of the wealthiest nations in Southeast Asia. They demanded unpaid wages and compensation for 431 Bangladeshi workers who they claimed were being exploited by two Malaysian companies, Mediceram and Kawaguchi Manufacturing.
The Associated Press could not immediately reach the companies for comment.
Many factories in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries rely on migrant workers, often from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, to fill labor-intensive manufacturing, plantation or construction jobs. Local workers usually avoid such work due to poor conditions and low wages.
The Migrant Welfare Network urged the Bangladeshi and Malaysian authorities and international buyers to take immediate action to ensure workers receive back wages, fair compensation and “justice for systemic abuse”.
The group said on Monday that the Malaysian government had filed a complaint of forced labor and neglect against Australian company Ansell, a major customer of Mediceram, which makes gloves for medical, industrial and domestic use.
A separate complaint was filed against Kawaguchi, which supplied plastic components to major Japanese companies, including the Sony Group.
In May, about 280 Bangladeshi migrant workers for Kawaguchi demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages and other money owed to them after the company closed five months earlier.
Workers at the Kawaguchi factory in Port Klang have filed complaints in Malaysia and Bangladesh, alleging the company withheld their wages up to eight months before the closure after Sony and Panasonic Holdings Corp., two of Kawaguchi’s main customers, halted orders in response to allegations that workers were mistreated.
“In the beginning, they paid their salary in installments, meaning they would give 500-1,000 ringgit (about 120-240 US dollars) a month as food expenses,” said former Kawaguchi employee Omar Faruk, who started working for the manufacturer in 2022. “After the salary was withheld, the company started thinking about shutting down.” We later filed a complaint with the Malaysian Office in Bangladesh.
Harun Or Rasid Liton, who worked at Mediceram, accused the company of failing to pay despite an order from the Malaysian Labor Court.
“The court ruled that the company would pay us 1,000 ringgit a month, but the company only paid the first installment and then stopped paying,” he said. “Later we had no choice but to return to Bangladesh. Now we are facing serious difficulties in supporting our families.”
There have been widespread reports of the abuse of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia, and disputes between workers and companies have become a diplomatic sore point between Bangladesh and Malaysia. Workers’ rights groups have demanded strict controls on the powerful group of recruitment agencies and brokers that monopolize such jobs.
