Foreign workers lodge report after employer refuses to return passports

SHAH ALAM - An NGO today lodged a third police report over the mistreatment of foreign workers and has called on the Human Resources Ministry to assist the workers to return to their country after allegedly being beaten and deprived of salary.

Dasvandh Sewa Malaysia Humanitarian Welfare Organisation President Rakvinder Kaur said they had to lodge multiple reports after failing to get employers to return their passports.

“They are frustrated. They want to go back to India, but they cannot do so unless passports are returned to them and to cancel off their working permit,” she told Sinar Daily after lodging a police report at Shah Alam police headquarters.

She alleged that some of the workers were beaten, deprived of their salary and even threatened to be sent to the immigration detention centre by their employer for demanding their passports.

“Sometimes, they get paid once every two months and the salary cut is not reasonable. If they are absent from work for a day, their salary is cut by as much as RM200 per day.

“If they don’t come to work because of the mistreatment, the employer will come to the hostel to force them to work, even beating them and bringing them to the working place,” she claimed.

Rakvinder added they lodged their first police report on May 20 and the second was made six days after that.

She expressed her concern over the safety of the workers since the employer has threatened to send them to the immigration detention centre after they had lodged their second police report in Shah Alam.

“We are worried because they cannot leave the dormitory since the employer has their passports and the day we made the second report, the employer said he wanted to send them to the immigration detention centre as they don't have their passports with them,” she added.

Sinar Daily has reached out to Human Resources Minister M Saravanan for comments.