15-6-2023 (KUALA LUMPUR) According to a survey released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Thursday, nearly a third of migrant workers employed in domestic households in Malaysia are working under forced labour conditions. The survey conducted by the UN’s labour agency revealed indicators of forced labour, including excessive working hours, unpaid overtime, low wages, restricted movement, and the inability to quit.
Based on interviews with 1,201 domestic workers in Southeast Asia, the ILO identified that 29% of domestic workers in Malaysia faced such conditions. In comparison, the figures were 7% for Singapore and 4% for Thailand, Malaysia’s neighbouring countries. At the time of the survey’s release, Malaysia and Singapore had not provided an immediate response to the findings.
Wannarat Srisuksai, a spokesperson for Thailand’s Labour Ministry, stated that the treatment of domestic workers in Thailand has improved following the introduction of laws in 2012 to protect this vulnerable group.
The survey revealed that domestic workers in all three countries worked significantly longer hours than those legally prescribed for other workers, and none of them earned the minimum wage.
Anna Engblom, the chief technical adviser at the ILO programme responsible for the study, emphasized the need for stronger protection for domestic workers, stating, “Domestic work is one of the most important tasks in our society, and yet provided with the least protection. This can no longer be accepted.”
The ILO called on Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to ratify UN conventions on domestic workers and forced labour, acknowledge the skilled nature of domestic work, and ensure migration pathways that do not bind workers to their employers.
In many Asian households, domestic workers, mostly women from developing nations such as Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines, are employed to perform various household tasks, including cooking, cleaning, childcare, and gardening.
Malaysia has faced criticism in recent years due to multiple cases of Indonesian domestic workers being subjected to abuse in Malaysian households, and some Malaysian companies have been accused of exploiting migrant labourers.
Indonesians constitute approximately 80% of domestic workers in Malaysia, as reported by the ILO. In an effort to improve protections for domestic workers, Malaysia and Indonesia signed an agreement last year.
