In a report by The Star Online on 12th July 2006, the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs\u00a0announced that it lifted the two-year ban on Bangladeshi workers and approved 139\u00a0outsourcing firms that will be responsible for the recruitment of workers. While MFA\u00a0welcomes the re-entry of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia, it denounces the process by\u00a0which these workers will be recruited. MFA believes that leaving the recruitment of\u00a0migrant workers in the hands of outsourcing companies will only lead to further\u00a0exploitation of workers and erosion of labour standards. MFA reiterates the position of its\u00a0Malaysia-based member, Tenaganita, in stating that \u2018outsourcing labour creates a
\ncondition of a very deregulated and unprotected form of labor.\u2019 More often than not,\u00a0migrant workers are bounded to unjust and unfair employment contracts that force them\u00a0to work long hours at near-poverty level wages in slave-like working conditions. Hiring\u00a0workers through offshore recruitment agencies abrogates the responsibilities of the
\nemployers and the Malaysian government. Such a policy without protective mechanisms\u00a0for the workers gives the impression that the Malaysian government promotes slave\u00a0labor.<\/p>\n
MFA calls for the immediate halt in the implementation of this exploitative recruitment\u00a0process. We recommend that the Malaysian government sit with civil society groups in\u00a0Malaysia to formulate a better way of recruiting labour migrants and ensure that core\u00a0labour standards will be implemented<\/p>\n