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Labour dept probes Bangladeshi workers’ forced labour claims

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The workers allege that they have not been paid for months and forced to work 12-hour shifts everyday.

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The workers alleged that they are forced to live in overcrowded dormitories, with poor toilet facilities and living conditions.

PETALING JAYA:
The Selangor labour department is investigating claims of unpaid wages and other forced labour indicators by a group of Bangladeshi workers at a factory in Klang that supplies components to major electronics companies.

In an e-mail to the company and its major customers, migrant rights activist Andy Hall shared a report based on interviews with seven workers which details their allegations of forced labour.

The report claims that the workers have not been paid for up to six months, causing them and their families severe distress.

They also allegedly paid exorbitant recruitment fees through loans, worsening their financial difficulties.

According to the report, the workers are forced to work seven days a week, including public holidays, without overtime pay.

The report also claimed the workers’ lived in overcrowded dormitories, with many sharing a single room. It also said the toilet facilities provided to workers are unhygienic, contributing to their poor living conditions.

protest
The workers protesting outside the factory in Klang.

Some workers are allegedly working without valid visas due to the company’s failure to renew them, leaving them vulnerable and undocumented, said the report.

In addition, workers who raised concerns about unpaid wages or working conditions were allegedly threatened with detention, deportation, or police action. Four workers were allegedly sent back to Bangladesh as punishment.

A source from the human resources ministry told FMT the Selangor labour department is looking into the claims, while another source close to the matter said the department is preparing a report on the workers’ alleged mistreatment.

In a memorandum sent to the Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, some of the workers said they have not been paid on time since they joined the company last November.

The memorandum also said the workers’ employers threatened to send them back to Bangladesh whenever they raised the issue of their unpaid salary.

“As a result, we are all living a miserable life in Malaysia, not being able to eat, pay our debts and send money to our families,” it said.

FMT has seen videos of the workers’ allegedly overcrowded accommodation and unsanitary toilet facilities. In another video, a worker claimed he was forced to work 12 hours every day.

He said a group of workers recently protested outside the company’s office over five months of unpaid salaries, after which the company cut off their water, electricity, and gas supplies.

“This is how they are torturing and threatening us,” he said in the video.

FMT has reached out to the Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur for comment and is withholding the name of the company pending a response.

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