KUALA LUMPUR: Migrant Care has called on activists to practice ethical advocacy, emphasising the need to avoid blame and unsubstantiated allegations for media attention.
"It is timely for Malaysian activists to ethically engage migrants communities with ethical advocacy based on "Do no harm" principles rather than finding blames and allegations to attract media attentions with over rated foreign activist," said Migrant Care country representative Alex Ong in a statement today.
The statement follows the release of the latest Trafficking in Persons Report 2024 (TIP) by the US State Department, which upgraded Malaysia to Tier 2.
Ong commended the Department of Labor's swift response to addressing Bangladeshi migrant issues.
"We must appreciate the hardworking efforts by JTK in the quick response in dealing with Bangladeshi ordeals," he said.
He clarified that widely circulated KLIA video clips alleging labor exploitation and victimisation were unfounded, as the depicted migrants had not yet begun working; the crowded scene resulted from a last-minute rush to meet entry deadlines.
Highlighting challenges in labor recruitment supply chains from source countries, where placement expenses are misrepresented as recruitment fees, Ong said there were complex migrant management issues from the sending countries.
Ong pointed out ongoing discrepancies in policy delivery systems, including challenges with databases of documented and undocumented migrants, monitoring systems for domestic workers, and abuses within outsourcing models. He also said there was an absence of migrant policies tailored for micro, small, and medium enterprises.
With regards to unregulated non-institutional cleaning services, Ong called for policy interventions to prevent exploitation by house-to-house cleaning companies that exploit cleaners as domestic workers, violating immigration laws.
Calling for enhanced collaboration with grassroots non-governmental organisations, Ong said there is a need for more effective policy development and delivery systems.
"We still need strong political will to improve the migrant management," he added.