Migrant rights activist Andy Hall highlighted the stranded workers’ deplorable living conditions in the documents he sent to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
He provided details of their poor living conditions including cramped quarters, poor sanitation, limited food and how they became indebted due to exorbitant recruitment costs during the past 18 months or more. “The government has admitted that there is an excess of around 250,000 workers in Malaysia, which has resulted in systematic forced labour, modern slavery and debt bondage,” he said.
Citing one of the documented cases, Hall said it involved 400 Bangladeshi workers who were allegedly in a grave situation with no proper lodging and food.“There are about 14 workers crammed into one room. I have received videos from this group. The agents who brought them here gave them RM200 each which they are using to buy food. It will not last them for long,” he said.